Steve Rotheram at The Festival of North West Thinking
A Summary of Steve Rotheram at The #FestivalNWThinking 2020
Last month, VSNW hosted Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham in the last in a series of events in the North West Festival of Thinking. During the event, titled “No Going Back”, the Metro Mayors answered questions from attendees from VCFSE organisations across the North West to explore the role of the sector in their vision for “Building Back Better”. The questions to the Metro Mayors were thought-provoking, challenging and inspiring with discourse on areas such as devolution, “levelling up” and true partnership working.
Here, we reflect on the highlights from the event and some of the key points raised by Steve Rotheram in particular, and the role the VCFSE could have in the future of the Liverpool City Region.
Steve Rotheram’s Key Messages:
More devolution in general & in also addressing ‘levelling up’ agenda
More inclusion; work closer with margianalised groups; address structural racism
Include & respect VCFSE sector as key partner in economic and strategic discussions
Steve started off by celebrating the excellent work of the VCFSE sector over the course of the coronavirus pandemic including the vital role of Reverend Canon Dr Ellen Loudon as the VCFSE Mayoral Advisor in bringing the various issues faced by communities and organisations to the full attention of the Combined Authority. This has enabled the development of financial support for the sector, including the £2million LCR Cares pot, which as we know has been a lifeline for over 400 community organisations in the region.
When asked about how we can maximise the benefits of the VCFSE response to the pandemic, both Mayors agreed that more devolution powers are needed to achieve greater partnership within the sector and to really drive forward place-based working, which is vital to ensure that our communities are at the heart of decision making. However, when talking about empowering our communities it is also crucial that under-represented and marginalised groups are included in the conversation. Steve recognised the need to do better for these communities and emphasised that working with the VCFSE sector, particularly organisations ran by and for marginalised groups, is the best way of doing this. Steve highlighted that the Combined Authority has recently launched the Race Equality Programme with £214,000 funding to tackle racial inequality in the city region, but recognised that this is “sticking plaster” and more work will be done to address structural discrimination within the authority itself and how it distributes funding.
A question on the levelling up agenda and the potential dilution of devolution by the Government sparked some passionate thinking. Steve expressed disappointment with the Government’s decision to centralise the £4bn levelling up funding, describing it as a missed opportunity to target funding directly at disadvantaged areas to really address disparity across the country. It also greatly reduces the opportunity for VCFSE organisations to benefit from this fund, and we all know just how fundamental a strong voluntary sector is for truly levelling up our communities and residents.
Also essential for effective levelling up and building back better is the VCFSE sector being a respected key partner at the table in economic and strategic discussions. A question was asked as to how this can be made the norm, rather than an after-thought. Steve stated that this has started to be addressed within the Combined Authority, and that the VS6 Partnership plays a crucial role as the loud voice for the sector to champion for opportunities for VCFSE representation. However, Steve also recognised that more work needs to be done to normalise this way of working for communities to really benefit from sector expertise.
During the final moments of the event, reflecting on the discussion had, Steve summarised the need for better and continued engagement with the sector and recognised that his office must do more to provide the platform for the VCFSE sector to be a key partner in building back better in the Liverpool City Region.