Cardiff councillors answer your questions at our Third Sector Hustings

In the run-up to the local elections on 3 May, Cardiff Third Sector Council (C3SC) ran a ‘question time’ event at the Parc Thistle Hotel on Tuesday 17 April.

We invited along local third sector organisations – to give them the opportunity to hear from local councillors about how they are planning to support the third sector in Cardiff.

We’re grateful to the following local councillors for attending: Councillor Rodney Berman, Liberal Democrat; Councillor Cerys Furlong, Labour; Councillor Lyn Hudson, Conservative; and Councillor Neil McEvoy, Plaid Cymru. Unfortunately the representative from Cardiff Green Party was unable to attend last minute and sent his apologies.

Organisations had the opportunity to pose questions before the event and a selection of these was put to the panel in a Q&A session. Here’s a taster of the questions, with councillors’ key points in their responses:

Q. “There are difficult times ahead. Do you agree that Cardiff Council should co-operate with local volunteer organisers to implement a volunteering strategy which, co-ordinated with other Council strategies, would aim to maximise the impact of the contribution of Cardiff's volunteers?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• Co-operation and strategy are needed.
• Partnerships with Public, Private and Third Sector should be encouraged.
• The need for the right people in the right places in order to take the strategy forward.

Councillor Neil McEvoy:

• Totally agree – something that needs to be addressed.
• Needs more of a volunteering culture in Cardiff.
• More involvement with schools and young people.
• Very impressed with the figure of over £2 million worth of volunteer time that contributes to the economy in Cardiff (figure quoted by the questioner).

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• The importance of the Compact Panel and the need to revisit it.
• The need for a revised volunteering strategy, with more efficiency and creative ideas.
• The need to include services that are not just supplied by Cardiff Council but also other groups.

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• A will to work with the voluntary sector.
• The opportunity for significant improvements.
• The need to find solutions with the voluntary sector.
• The need to refresh the Compact and be clearer about vision and objectives.
• The need to offer volunteering opportunities to progress as this may be the first chance they have to engage and get back to work.
• The Council could do more.

Q. “How will members of the panel ensure that current third sector provision of housing-related support continues to offer high quality support and housing to vulnerable people in light of the forthcoming redistribution of Supporting People funding when Cardiff is set to be one of the biggest losers of grants over the next 5 years?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• This is an important question.
• The council’s aim is to maintain provision for vulnerable people.
• Concerns of what funding is received from Welsh Government.
• Concerns over proposals to take the provision for funding out of Local Government hands and pass to local communities.
• Accountability concerns with this as danger that money may not be going to where most needed.
• Council’s record good in terms of ensuring no homeless people are housed in Bed & Breakfast.

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• Not an expert. The next council term will be challenging.
• No-one really knows; as usual it will be the vulnerable residents that will take the brunt of cuts.
• There will need to be cooperation across the board.
• A need to employ new ideas.
• A tough decision will be needed to protect the vulnerable.

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• It will be difficult – not easy decisions.
• There will be a need for dialogue and consultation and working together.
• Tough not just on housing needs but need to consider all vulnerable needs.
• Need to engage.
• Need to prioritise.

Councillor Neil McEvoy:

• Needs to be a political priority.
• Point of record – have defended budgets in the past.
• Need to create new revenue streams – loans to businesses instead of grants.
• Defend essential services.

Q. “Cardiff Council seems to have developed a policy of bringing services currently delivered by the third sector back into the council with no regard for performance. Do the councillors support this practice or do they believe that services should be commissioned from the best organisation, therefore ensuring the best outcomes for communities and individuals whether these be statutory, private or third sector providers?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• Public services need to provide exactly what people want and need; it’s about providing the best service, whoever delivers it.
• Needs to be citizen centred and citizen focussed.
• Client based is a very good idea – based on outcomes.

Councillor Neil McEvoy:

• Yes, the tendering process could be better but in-house services could be creating savings?
• Prefer to keep services in-house.

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• Does not recognise the policy in the question.
• Agrees that cost, quality and effectiveness have priority.
• Need to take things on a case to case basis.

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• Quality, cost and outcome are a priority.
• Duplicate services are not acceptable.
• We have a duty to the employees of the Council in terms of in-house services too.
• Not suggesting that all services should be taken in-house, but there is sustainability offered by the Council.
• Need a mixed approach as the voluntary sector adds quality to sustainability of Council provision.

Q. “How does the Council plan to engage with the marginalised groups, those inactively unemployed, NEETs etc. – particular from the immigrant and asylum seeker communities?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Neil McEvoy:

• This is a huge question – on a ward level, we will try to engage with the marginalised.
• On a strategic level, we have benefited from Communities First.
• Communities First is a blessing in my ward.
• One way might be to have champions in the community – empowering the marginalised groups.

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• We’ve got to reach out.
• We need to find a way to reach out, understand, and work with them.
• NEETs – we have to find a way to get them involved as otherwise we’ll potentially lose them.
• Need to work with community leaders.
• Community First has a role to play.

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• A need to widen access to all services.
• A need to give confidence to them to take control of their own lives.
• We do need community leaders but it has been shown that we also need to ask the local people themselves.
• We need to make politics more representative – councillors in Cardiff need to be representative of the people and communities they serve, and having a council predominantly made up of white middle class men does not effectively represent the diversity of Cardiff.

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• A need to be for the public good – have a policy of putting something back into society.
• Provide apprenticeships – they are important and need to be longer. Make sure skills are not wasted at the end of the scheme.
• Not sure that the Council has been good at procurement and provision but it’s getting better.
• Need to look at all schemes and opportunities.

Q. “Cardiff has seen a huge increase in numbers on their waiting list for housing and an increase in homelessness. What would your party do to increase supply, bearing in mind that banks are reluctant to lend, grants for social housing halved, the costs of living increasing, welfare reform changes impacting on incomes and unemployment at a high level?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• There must be mixed provision – include housing with gardens.
• Found that this Local Development Plan was undeliverable – thrown out.
• Local residents are not happy that blocks of flats are going up at every street corner.
• Need to be realistic and frank.

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• This may be controversial. It may not be a good thing that a lot of people own their own home; in some countries it’s not the case.
• I see nothing wrong in helping people to rent affordable housing.
• Homes are available out there if assistance is given to people to rent – need to look at priorities.

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• Primarily about affordable housing.
• The Council is not necessarily keeping pace but it’s getting there.
• Cardiff Partnering Scheme has been successful.
• Announced the building of 1,000 new homes, 40% of which will be affordable.
• Councillor Berman wants to have it recorded that Councillor Furlong’s comment on the flats and housing provision was incorrect.

Councillor Neil McEvoy:

• Priority needs to be given to look at regional level – Cardiff is too small for building to continue in the city.
• Cannot keep building on green fill sites.
• Mortgage assistance for first time buyers to continue.
• Renovate existing housing for rent – it’s important that properties don’t remain empty.
• If we don’t get it right then Cardiff will look a lot different in 5 years to come.

Q. “A common aim amongst all the ‘What Matters’ partners is to build balanced and sustainable communities. How would you see the council contributing to such a partnership approach in areas of transient population such as Cathays, and what would you like to see the third sector doing there?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Neil McEvoy:

• Cathays is specific – there is no right answer.
• Need to set up local groups that will engage people from transient communities.
• It can be simple things like organised trips that bring people together.

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• This is difficult as there is a huge student population.
• University level involvement – Student Liaison Officer is a good idea.
• Maybe mentors – mentoring scheme.

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• Not on the same scale in my constituency but it is hard to engage with a transient community as they have no roots.
• Need to get out into the community and to make an effort to engage more.
• Student Liaison Officer is a good idea – build bridges.

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• This is not easy and it is not necessarily limited to students – in some constituencies there are refuges, drug hostels, etc.
• Council has responsibility if the residents need support.

Q. “The Welfare Reform is going to have a huge impact on families, in particular single parent families, with the UK’s poorest single mums losing up to £68 per week. How do the parties propose to support families in Cardiff through these changes?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• We will have to find different ways to tackle this.
• Need more jobs in the City – there has to be an emphasis on this as this will mean more money flowing through the local economy and more spending in shops, etc., therefore creating more jobs.
• Looking at how to assist and help.
• Creating integrated children centres.

Councillor Neil NcEvoy:

• Needs the Welsh Government to look into this ASAP.
• Whichever party comes to power, cuts will be inevitable but the country needs alternatives.
• Difficult question; we will try to defend services – appalled that Westminster seems to punish people for working.
• There are also single dads so this affects single parents, not just single mums.

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• Cuts are coming – the Council needs to be there when they hit.
• People need to be aware that there is no easy answer.
• Inspiring school projects regarding family learning – working with parents to give them confidence to help their children.

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• Aware that single mums are vulnerable. Cuts are coming – there’s no single answer.
• Encourage employers to provide crèches established in the workplace.
• Employers need to acknowledge the need for flexibility.
• We can only work with what we have.

Q. “The Government talks a lot about volunteering, and also about setting up small social enterprises to give work to people who have difficulty in working in a busy environment. If third sector organisations are to set up and provide these opportunities, what plans does the Government have to support core costs for these organisations?”

Here are the key points the councillors made:

Councillor Cerys Furlong:

• Better sharing of resources and staff.
• Why can’t volunteers be seconded to Cardiff Council and Welsh Government?
• Need to talk to organisations before pulling schemes.
• The voluntary sector’s strengths are that they respond to needs more quickly.
• We want to support new and innovative schemes.

Councillor Neil McEvoy:

• In 2008 we put social enterprise back on the agenda.
• Capital Cardiff fund needs to continue supporting social enterprise.
• Social enterprises need to continue and increase.

Councillor Rodney Berman:

• There are concerns about funding. This is why we propose a 3-year funding strategy. This provides more security about funding availability.
• Yes – A need to give organisations warning that funding may be cut.
• We regard the voluntary sector vital – third sector funding is not a soft touch.
• Look to reduce funding only when there’s a need to cut funding – and look at the impact of this across all organisations.

Councillor Lyn Hudson:

• Need partnership and cooperation.
• Voluntary initiatives are all valuable but have to be looked at individually.
• We don’t have infinite resources – we will have to look at how effective the service is.