Dear Friend / Colleague,
In response to some of the city mayor’s further claims in his radio interview with Jim Davis, we’ve set out below some factual points which will hopefully provide an even better understanding of the challenges the Association and the wider Highfields community is facing:
Q’n:1Jim Davis
Why have you ceased the funding?
Sir Peter Soulsby (SPS)
The Council gave them the building about 5 years ago.
HCA Response:
No, as the then Leicester South MP proclaimed, it was HCA that drew down the £5m funding to redevelop the old Highfields Youth and Community Centre into the new Highfields Centre!
(SPS)
I gave up on them about 12 months ago but council officers have continued to try and help them to help themselves and try to work with them, first of all to demonstrate what on earth they’re doing with the money but also, to plan sensibly for the future.
HCA Response:
SPS wrote to HCA’s Chair on 10/12/14 stating “As this (ie. pension) now appears to be the only remaining issue, I urge you to provide this information to our legal team in order to avoid further delay.”
He was clearly being very economical with the truth, as he now confirms he had given up on us some 12 months ago.
Moreover and since that time, SPS has apparently intervened to stop LCC officers meeting with us on not only on the funding contractual issues but also the wider Highfields area issues and developments, resulting in there being no meeting with Council officers and further victimising Highfields residents.
Q’n:2Jim Davis
It seems to me from what Priya was saying and from our reporter’s visit there yesterday, the Centre is well used but you’re saying it’s significantly underused?
(SPS)
……………they are relying very heavily on the council, not just providing them £300,000 a year to fund their staff but also be expected to rent their space for another £100,000 a year, so over £400,000 a year going in for very little coming out.
HCA Response:
HCA has not only exceeded the city council related contractual targets but also, it has done so in relation to all of the other non-city council contracts over the last 4 years!
Providing us with less than 24 hours to agree a viable rental agreement is not good practice and it needed to include a contribution towards the service charges incurred at this Centre. Moreover, the city mayor’s cancellation of the only face-to-face meeting with Council officers to discuss the new arrangement was hardly helpful!
Our recent cost benefit analysis demonstrates the significant return and benefit that HCA is providing for the community and the city as a whole. Using the HM Treasury model and incorporating a Service Level Agreement cost to LCC of around £131,000 pa (2015-16), showed that there is a direct financial benefit to the public sector of around £4 for each £1 spent at Highfields Centre.
It also showed the wider economic benefits from HCA activity and this included the benefits to the local economy beyond the savings to the public sector. The overall economic public return on investment is £10 for each £1 spent at Highfields Centre.
Q’n:3Jim Davis
The latest row seems to centre around the time frame over which you’ve given them to come up with a decent business plan? They’re saying they’re not simply well staffed enough to do that
(SPS)
…I’ve been in discussion with them almost since the day I was elected, trying to help them to help themselves…………
HCA Response:
SPS’ first attendance here following his 2011 city mayoral election was to renege on the Council’s legally binding commitment to make good the building design faults identified at the time of the community governance transfer.
His subsequent intervention in November 2013 was to publicly broadcast we had failed in our quest for economic independence and to-date, he has refused to provide any documentation for his fictitious claim.
(SPS)
………….what you’ve got there and I have said it several times now, it’s the most difficult community group I have ever had the experience of working with.
HCA Response:
Yes, we do challenge the monopolistic public sector agencies (Health, Government Office, Electoral Commission, etc) when they fail to discharge their duties to disadvantaged communities and divert monies provided for such communities to their ‘pet’ projects and developments.
Speaking truth to power is now widely regarded as a desirable objective for both local and national voluntary and community sector agencies but it seems our challenge to his decisions based on false and secret Council reports is not welcomed!
Q’n:4Jim Davis
We’ve also got a hugely valuable asset to the community, well-loved and arguably well used
(SPS)
And scandalously under used and it really is
HCA Response:
Nearly 400,000 users attended the Centre during the last four years (2011–2014)
In 2014, HCA sessions were attended by over 67,500 people and LCC sessions were attended by about 13,700 people
In 2014, HCA provided 3,878 arts, sports, advice and community sessions whilst the LCC managed services provided 1328 sessions.
Q’n:5Jim Davis
They dispute that, they say 400,000 users
(SPS)
I’ve seen the building numerous times and I’ve seen the absence of people using it and also seen the fact and heard the fact that local people say “what do they do there?” “What happens there in this great big building, it’s not for us.”
HCA Response:
Our most recent user survey identified the following:
91% said HC’s services were excellent to good, across a range of different features
98% said they would continue to use HC services
97% said they would recommend HC services to their friends, family, etc.
Our users’ major concern over the last few years has been about the absence of a responsive youth service and until last year, responsibility for this service rested with the Council.
Q’n:6Jim Davis
They accuse you of a premeditated campaign to close them down
(SPS)
If it’s premeditated Jim, it’s taken four years to get to it, it really has. I’ve given them loads of support as a Mayor, previously as a MP and before that as a councillor for that area. I know the building well and I know its potential and I know its importance to the local people and I want to see it used by the local people and available for them
HCA Response:
In January 2011 and as the local MP, SPS said “The Big Society doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it exists as community governance here (ie. Highfields Centre) I hope will prosper, it exists with support, with resources, with practical help, with a climate, a culture that gives the support that’s needed from the local council and in our case, the city council and other public agencies and there’s many that serve the Highfields area. They must all work together to make community governance and the independence of this Centre, something that sees itself continue to prosper, see it continue to be at the heart of the community , sees it continue to serve the community in the future as it has done in the past.”
Suffice to say his commitment did not transfer into any supportive actions once he was elected as the city mayor and the pace of his negative actions increased steadily from 2013 to the current desperate distortions!
Q’n:7Jim Davis
They say they’ve been trying to meet with you but you haven’t been available?
(SPS)
It is true about 12months a ago, I gave up on them, I mean I really did
HCA Response:
Our numerous offers to meet with him since January 2015 have been completely ignored!
Q’n:8Jim Davis
But that doesn’t sound like you’re really opening the channel for communication?
(SPS)
Jim, I had three years face to face meetings with them and visited the centre
HCA Response:
Since his initial election as the city mayor and following his now infamous public outburst in November 2013, we have had 6 meetings with him (including his attendance here in May 2014 to ‘re-acquaint himself with the Centre’s layout’), with the last one being in October 2014.
No other meetings before or since have been held.
Q’n:9Jim Davis
But they’ve been trying more recently to meet your demands?
(SPS)
You say “them” but actually what you’ve got there is a Manager and a handful of people around him and that’s it. They’re not in any sense representative of the community that they are supposed to be serving and I want to bring it back into service for that community
HCA Response:
This winning combination of a team of well established, experienced, knowledgeable and trusted staff at all levels of the Association’s service delivery and governing body, together with the widespread local recognition that many members of that team have been drawn from the local area makes it best and uniquely placed to help local people achieve a material and positive difference to their lives, as individuals, families and communities.
This unique blend is not readily found in Leicester, with last year’s HCA staff comprising of 60% Asian, 26% African/Caribbean, 8% White and 6% Other and reflected in its people usage pattern, with 76% Asian, 14% African/Caribbean, 3% White and 7% Other.
And it certainly is not found at the Council, with a wholly white chief officer team, over 4 years after his initial election as city mayor!
Q’n:10Jim Davis
What about this issue of building up reserves, you’ve criticised them for that but they say that’s something the council do, it’s a decent business proposal?
(SPS)
Perfectly realistic for them to have reserves of course it is but £600,000 for a community group, with that sort of money in the bank. It’s not money that’s come from the public, it’s come through the council and it’s not their own money and it’s sitting there. It does mean of course that the final decision I’ve taken to say “that’s it, no more” doesn’t mean it’s going to close tomorrow. It does mean that it’s not a crisis. There is time for them to plan for the future and to return to some sensible discussions.
HCA Response:
HCA’s reserves is largely designated, with £250,000 for the main hall and sports hall related work, £40,000 for programme support work and the balance providing the recommended six months operational costs.
This compares with over £50 million salted away in the Council’s reserves by the city mayor, including £250,000 for lighting up some city centre buildings and which he termed a comparatively modest sum in the latter part of his radio interview!
Q’n:11Jim Davis
What is next then? I mean in terms of the city council’s involvement, are you washing your hands or at least guide them and assist them through this stage of transition?
(SPS)
The building is not going anywhere. It is there, it’s at the heart of the community and it deserves to be used by the community and I look forward to working towards the day where it can again be an asset to the community not a liability to the public.
HCA Response:
We do not underestimate the challenge we face but in the spirit of our well established and battle hardened motto of ‘Be vigilant but move forwards!’ and for all our service users and especially those who have acknowledged the decades of our dedication and commitment to not only the people in Highfields but also the wider Leicester people, we will continue to do so to ensure the disadvantaged communities are provided with the much-needed and quality services that it deserves.
Q’n:12Jim Davis
But you’ve walked away?
(SPS)
What I’ve said is no more blank cheques, what I’ve said is no more fat slugs of public money and I think what the overwhelming reaction has been from colleagues and from the public “it’s about time too”
HCA Response:
See above response point 1.
Q’n:13Jim Davis
Ultimately though, they’re going to have work incredibly hard to fund raise to keep this centre open as it is?
(SPS)
But that is what they set out to do. When they got community governance, they said they were going to be self-sustaining. Now, they had three years of very generous funding and during that period they made no progress what so ever. They expected us to write them the same big cheque year after year after year. No apparent progress at all towards self sustainability
HCA Response:
See above response points 2 and 4.
Q’n:14Jim Davis
Couldn’t you at least find a way to scale that down?
(SPS)
That’s exactly what we are trying to do for the last couple of years. They were offered £200,000 last year and instead of actually taking the money and building for the future, they started quibbling about the fact we put some reasonable condition on it
HCA Response:
In April 2014, we provided SPS with a four year business plan in which we identified a tapering of the Council’s funding at this Centre.
We did raise concerns about SPS’ unilateral inclusion of contractual conditions which were not being required of other equivalent agencies the Council funded but in January 2015, we agreed to sign the contract, albeit under duress.
Q’n:15Jim Davis
Members of the community will think you have turned your back on them?
(SPS)
I haven’t turned my back. I mean it’s very evident that I haven’t. I’ve spent all this time with them, I’ve offered them money last year which they haven’t taken up and we’ve tried to work with them in all sorts…….We have tried to work together.
HCA Response:
See above response point 8.
Q’n:16Jim Davis
It feels brutal though and that’s the point, it feels brutal?
(SPS)
Actually, wasting as they did £80,000 of public money, pulling their staff out of the pension scheme and having to pay the compensation for it, grossly irresponsibly. If I kept on writing the cheques, people will rightly say what on earth are you doing, what on earth are you giving them public money to continue to under use this public asset and to make such a mess of public finance.
HCA Response:
Given SPS’ decision to slash our Council funding contracts by over 50% last year, our trustees (fully supported by our staff) agreed to effect the necessary cost cutting measures, including withdrawal from the increasingly expensive local government pension scheme and instead, set up a new pension scheme in line with the statutory requirement for a pension scheme for all employees.
Any sensible observer would be applauding our economically prudent approach at a time when we were faced with a massive £315,000 cut in the Council’s funding, especially when it resulted in only one part time employee being made redundant and ensuring all remaining staff benefitted from the new company pension scheme.