Connect Hackney

BAME Commissioning Q&A responses

Meet the Funder – Connect Hackney BAME Community Q and A

12/03/19

1. Q: If you have previously had funding from Hackney CVS can you still submit a tender.

A: Yes. This would not be a barrier.

2. Q: Who will be on the assessment panel, who are the experts?

A: It is made up Hackney CVS/Connect Hackney staff and members of our Older Peoples Committee. The panel is made up with a range people who bring a variety of relevant skills and experience to ensure a balanced assessment of the tenders we receive.

3. Q: Are we expected to use other monitoring tools other than the Common Measurement Framework (CMF) tool to evaluate our project?

A: It is a condition of the funding that you use the Common Measurement Framework (CMF) tool, we are asking for targets of 60 people engaged in the project and minimum of 40 CMF returns. If you are using additional tools aa part of your own monitoring purposes which allow you to collect additional data, then you can embed this as part of your project monitoring practices. Our local evaluator can support extract the learning from any additional tools you use to compliment the CMF data.

4. Q: Is this the only version of the CMF? In Phase 1 there was a shortened version, a baseline version, and full version.

A: We do have a short questionnaire which is for one off engagement, rather than ongoing activities. We also have a full CMF (appendix 8) which is used to collect baseline information when participants join a project, and also at a minimum, when they leave the project.

5. Q: Some of our service users don’t speak English, can we use our own monitoring forms or are we required still to use the CMF?

A: You will need to use Connect Hackney CMF questionnaires to gather data from participants. Once awards are made and we know what languages are required for projects, we will get the CMF’s translated. Participants are

required to complete the questionnaire on their own if possible. We understand that literacy can be a barrier so staff can support in the completion of the questionnaire by reading the questions out to the participants. However, questions should be read as they are written, and should not be paraphrased as this can alter the meaning, and skew the results. If you consider that you will need to have staff complete the CMF with project participants, then please ensure you consider this within your budget. We recognise this as a requirement for some project providers, and therefore this was factored in when we were agreeing the total funding allocation available per project (40k).

6. Q: We are an organisation based outside of Hackney; can we work in partnership with other organisations based in Hackney?

A: Yes, providing your project can engage the number of Hackney residents required (as set out in the ITT).

7. Q: Would we be disqualified as we are based in another borough?

A: No, as long as within your tender submission application it is clear where in Hackney you will be delivering your project, and that you are clear that you will be able to meet engagement requirements detailed within the ITT.

8. Q: How do you assess the proposed projects?

A: The questions are weighted, bids are scored individually and the panel will come together to finalise scores. The 5 highest scoring bids will then be awarded.

9. Q: If there is a partnership with another organisation, is the total amount of funding available still £40k?

A: Yes.

10. Q: Are we able to support people to complete the CMF questionnaire another way as we work with people living with dementia?

A: We are waiting for the National Lottery Community Fund to give us clarity on this as the person may not have the mental capacity to complete the questionnaire and as a result it may be inappropriate for them to do so; however we can work with the local evaluator to use other tools to collect research.

11. Q: Do we have to enter the CMF data onto the database?

A: No, you would need to detach the cover pages, and return the inserts to us (Hackney CVS/Connect Hackney) and the data is then entered on the national database by a member of the Connect Hackney team.

12. Q: Projects are required to end by December 2020, and Connect Hackney ends in March 2021, however one of the requirements is for us to complete a six-month follow-up CMF – will this still be required?

A: The six-month follow up will be from the date the participant leaves the project, therefore this be required for as long as it is possible for you to do e.g. with all project participants who leave the project on or before end of June 2020. We have spoken to the National Lottery Community Fund about this and they are aware we may not receive all of the six-month follow up questionnaires as the projects and Connect Hackney team will no longer be in place. Some Ageing Better programmes will still be running so they may be able to collect the data.

13. Q: Do we have to collect the participant personal information?

A: Yes for the projects you will need to do this, however when sending back the CMF questionnaire we do not require the section of the form where this is captured (cover page). Instead, each participant will be given a unique reference number which enables their data to be anonymised.

14. Q: We will be using other measures and collecting data which we may publish, will we need to check with Connect Hackney before publication?

A: This will be taken on as a case by case matter, as all resources will need to have the right logos and we may need to seek permission from the National Lottery Fund.