Agenda and minutes

The Committee noted the evacuation and housekeeping procedure.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 8^th September 2025

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th September 2025 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive evidence from Catalyst and Council Officers as part of the Scrutiny Review of Partnership working in Early Help

The Committee received a presentation from Catalyst, a strategic infrastructure organisation for the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Stockton-on-Tees. The presentation included an outline of their work, partnership working in Stockton-on-Tees, and how the Council could support the VCSE sector moving forward. </AI5>The key issues highlighted and discussed were:

• Catalyst felt that partnership working was strong in Stockton-on-Tees, and while different partners did not always agree on issues, this was seen as positive as partners were bringing different viewpoints.
• While officers from Catalyst would represent the VCSE sector at executive level meetings and groups, they would encourage other VCSE organisations and individuals who were delivering services on the ground to join different meetings and working groups to ensure their voices were heard. There was discussion around relaunching Catalyst’s previously held Senior Leaders’ Forum to create clear pathways to report back from the different groups and boards and Members questioned how it could be ensured that a forum would engage a broad representation of the sector. It was felt that it was important to consult with the sector in the first instance to confirm it was something that it wanted and then shape it as a space for the sector with speakers from partners invited to attend. 
• Initiatives such as the Wellbeing Hub and Warm Welcome were highlighted as examples of partners working together with the VCSE sector to provide advice and services for people. 
• The Youth United Stockton Alliance (YUSA) was discussed, which was a collective of key partners who delivered youth provision. The purpose was to support the sustainability of high-quality open access youth provision as well as ensuring that there were targeted and focused interventions to support children and young people within youth settings. It was believed that this would reduce pressure on partners such as the Local Authority, NHS, and Police. YUSA worked closely with the Council to highlight their work and had a ‘seat at the table’ in planning of services for young people. YUSA had been able to provide fully funded training to the sector to create the next generation of youth workers and had engaged with over 2000 young people.
• It was noted that the VCSE sector had experience and expertise to deliver a wide range of services that could be commissioned and should not be seen as a reduced service. The real cost of delivery should also be considered when commissioning or funding the VCSE sector, including administrative costs and costs of utilities.
• It was noted that VCSE organisations often did not have paid staff, and were reliant on volunteers giving their time, therefore when requesting information from them partners should give realistic timescales.
• The Stockton Information Directory was highlighted as an area for improvement to ensure it was accessible and the information on the directory relevant.
• Funding of VCSE organisations was discussed. Groups and organisations were encouraged to work together to submit partnership funding bids, rather than submitting these separately but the challenges around this, when organisations were  ...  view the full minutes text for item PEO/30/25

Consideration was given to the Committee’s current work programme. The next meeting due to take place on 3 November where there would be progress updates presented for the previous scrutiny reviews of Cost of Living and Disabled Facility Grants.

AGREED the work programme be noted.