A home for community and voluntary groups in Brighton and Hove

Community Base review terms of reference

THE BACKGROUND TO THE REVIEW
Community Base is a charity providing a home for community and voluntary groups in Brighton and Hove. In 2006 a dispute arose between Community Base and one of its licencees, Brighton and Hove Community and Voluntary Sector Forum (the forum), over the forum's decision to employ the manager of the local ChangeUp consortium, a cross-sector partnership, in the space it licences at Community Base.

The dispute revealed a range of opinions and a lack of clarity within Community Base about what licencees are, and should be, able to do with the space they licence at Community Base especially in the areas of joint working, sharing space with other organisations and starting new projects.

This lack of clarity makes some participant groups feel insecure about their right to stay at Community Base. It also makes it difficult for Community Base staff to enforce rules designed to ensure that Community Base remains a home for community and voluntary groups rather than other kinds of organisation.

THE SCOPE OF THE REVIEW
The review will look at
•  what we mean by being a home for community and voluntary groups
•  what licence agreement regulations and other rules there need to be to ensure Community Base remains a home for community and voluntary groups, how these rules are enforced and procedures and policies relating to licencees' security of tenure and the ending of licence agreements
•  Community Base's policies affecting other areas and suggestions for improving these policies
•  how to improve the community spirit within Community Base.

THE PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW
The review will attempt to come to a consensus about how Community Base best provides a home to community and voluntary groups and what regulations and policies there need to be in order to minimise feelings of uncertainty while allowing Community Base to carry out its core function. The review will also look at ways of improving the community spirit within Community Base.

HOW THE REVIEW WILL WORK
Anyone working at Community Base, including Community Base trustees, can be involved in the review. An email group will be set up in January 2007 to facilitate discussion of the issues covered by the review. An initial questionaire will be distributed to everyone at Community Base in January 2007 seeking people's views on the areas covered by the review. The results of the questionaire will feed into an initial open review meeting in February 2007.

An independent consultant will be appointed by Community Base in January 2007 to supervise the review. Community Base has proposed some ideas for how the review should work but the consultant should reach a consensus about how to conduct the review at the initial open review meeting. The review could include group meetings and individual, confidential meetings with the consultant in February and March 2007. The review will be influenced by findings at each stage and the process will change if necessary. The review will be completed in April 2007 when a general meeting will be held to discuss the outcome of the review and agree any changes that are needed.

THE ROLE OF THE CONSULTANT
The consultant will be expected to cast an independent eye over the issues and facilitate discussion with a view to creating a consensus amongst everyone at Community Base on the issues under review. Specifically, the consultant will
•  read current relevant policies and some background material
•  review the findings of the questionaire
•  review emails on the Community Base review email group, responding to emails if this would be useful
•  facilitate an initial review meeting and other meetings as agreed at the initial review meeting
•  report the outcome of the review to a Community Base board meeting in March 2007 ahead of a general meeting in April 2007.

While supervising the review the consultant will
•  identify areas that are working well and areas causing concern
•  ensure concerns are shared and understood
•  plan to resolve areas of dispute and seek consensus around the areas covered by the review
•  support productive working relationships.