The Commission on the Future of Local Infrastructure has published its final report. The Commission is making 19 recommendations, as well as an overarching recommendation that local infrastructure needs to be redesigned and creatively resourced to meet future challenges.
The Commission was set up by NAVCA in response to rising concern that local infrastructure membership could be left behind by the quickening pace of social, political, economic and technological change. The 20-strong Commission was chaired by Sara Llewellin, Chief Executive of Barrow Cadbury Trust, and contained independent members from the private, public and voluntary sector, and included rural, urban, city and regional perspectives. It met between April and December 2014 and took over a quarter of a million words of evidence from local groups, infrastructure organisations and national experts. The starting point for the Commission was how local infrastructure will meet the ever-growing demand for support with shrinking resources.
The Commission found that infrastructure will be needed in some form as long as people come together to form voluntary organisations and community groups. But the Commission concluded that the infrastructure of the future is likely to be a much leaner enabler, broker and catalyst rather than necessarily a deliverer. A key message from the Commission was that if the message to funders is to invest, the message to infrastructure has to be to change. This must be a 'something for something' deal.
Sara Llewellin Chair of the Commission, said
"Infrastructure needs to be financed, but it also has to undergo a redesign. It needs to be leaner, meaner and more technologically savvy. It needs to act as a lever bringing in new resources to the sector, including social investment, crowd funding and pro bono support. It needs to be the enabler of voice and the advocate of community action. It needs to collaborate and share more cost effectively. It needs to promote and develop the 'time economy', co-production and good volunteering practices. Above all, it needs to help the sector with foresight and managing change, because the pace of change is not going to slow."
Caroline Schwaller, Chair of NAVCA, said;
"This report shows how essential infrastructure support is to generating and supporting local community action. It also shows the need to change. Some NAVCA members are already at the leading edge, delivering innovative services. The challenge for NAVCA members is to be as good as the best. The challenge for NAVCA is to help them get there."
To download the full report, visit: www.navca.org.uk/downloads/generate/3878