North East Lincolnshire Strategic Partnership (NELSP) has recognised the pressures on its members to become more efficient and to make savings. Taking seriously Prime Minister David Cameron’s assertion that “we are all in this together,” and believing that “trust and confidence between partners is central to success,” they have agreed a set of principles and protocols setting out “the broad terms of negotiation and deliberation when looking at delivering joint initiatives and sharing resources”. These include mutual support, sharing expertise, jointly tackling barriers and issues, and understanding each other’s priorities and difficulties. Partnerships, including their voluntary and community sector representatives, may want to consider proposing and developing this sort of model for their own areas, alongside local Compact agreements.

The Third Sector Research Centre has released a report looking at the key commitments of the Big Society agenda and the ideology behind them. It explores some of the contradictions which lie behind the Big Society plans and questions what threat the Big Society may have to third sector unity.

Read the report.

With the effects of public spending cuts being felt across the country, it is encouraging to hear of examples of good practice of how organisations are managing the cuts and preparing themselves to weather them. Below are some links to examples of these, and advice on how to prepare and manage cuts is available on our public spending cuts pages.

• The solution to easing the pain of cuts is to manage them together
• Merton is managing cuts together - so can you
• Thurrock - no cuts to local groups despite difficult times
• ‘We took early action to prevent cuts’

While the coalition Government’s Big Society agenda is still rather vague, the central idea is the assertion that there is a willingness and capacity to get involved in voluntary action. Recent research from the Third Sector Research Centre, however, highlights that while the level of volunteering in the UK may have remained steady over recent years, it is disproportionately distributed over the country. The research concludes that, in general, the number of volunteers is greater in wealthier areas and fewer in those areas where it is most needed.

The Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) recently announced the launch of its new ‘Thinking about…’ series of publications.

IVAR say that the ‘Thinking about…’ series is “based around a straightforward idea. Drawing on the findings from previous research (our own and that of others) we want to provide practical, useful information for voluntary organisations that is grounded in the experiences of others.”

The first publication in the series is ‘Thinking about… merger’ and it is available from the IVAR website.

A Big Society community has been established on the Communities of Practice website. The Big Society community exists to give the wide variety of people it involves an opportunity to share approaches, learning and experience. By sharing this knowledge, people can easily identify what works and what doesn’t, and help to develop tools to help contribute to its success.

With Big Society emerging as an important theme for the coalition Government, North West Together We Can commissioned ippr north to identify the critical success factors for social and community enterprises and inform the wider debate.

The Local Government Chronicle (LGC) website now includes a regularly updated blog providing the latest information on proposed groupings and boundaries for local enterprise partnerships.

The information provided can help to inform local voluntary & community sector (VCS) support & development organisations’ thinking about possible future partnership working, both with other local VCS groups and with public and private sector bodies.

The deadline for the submission of LEP proposals, set by the Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation & Skills and for Communities & Local Government, is 6 September.

• LEP blog

27 August 2010

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (acas) has published a useful A4 chart showing the changes to existing and newly-defined equality strands, or protected characteristics, effected by the Equality Act 2010, which comes into force in October.

• Equality Act 2010 chart (pdf 25kb)

27 August 2010

Compact Voice and the Commission for the Compact have published a new resource pack online for voluntary & community sector Compact champions.

The pack includes tools to help champions promote Compact working in their own organisations and with their local partners.

The tools provide options for designing a champion role, reporting to a local implementation group, logging disputes and developing a training schedule. They have been designed to be used together or as stand-alone tools.

You can fill in local details and save the document electronically for printing and using at local events.

• Compact champions pack

24 August 2010

Two groups of young people from Bury in Greater Manchester and Mirpur in Pakistan have been involved in the British Council’s Active Citizens programme to promote understanding of identity, culture, dialogue and citizenship, and to establish social action projects.

The British Council’s Active Citizens programme links civil society networks and leaders in 24 countries across the world.

In February, young people from Bury visited Mirpur, where Active Citizens run educational and environmental projects. A reciprocal visit from Mirpur took place in May, to see Bury’s domestic violence awareness, gardening and reading projects.

Active Citizens is about informing, training and equipping individuals and groups for social and political engagement and empowerment. The Active Citizens approach takes a wide range of practical forms, from locally-based Train the Take Part Trainers initiatives - like ILP’s programme of Democracy Days - to international projects.

• Bury Live article
• Democracy Days

23 August 2010

The Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) and Communities & Local Government have invited local areas to submit proposals for forming local enterprise partnerships, to take over the economic regeneration role of regional development agencies.

Local Government Chronicle (LGC) chief reporter Allister Hayman expresses concern, however, that “local government is about to blow the opportunity it has been handed.”

He writes that, “in some regions councils are becoming engaged in increasingly fractious disputes about who [sic] they ought to partner with as they put together LEP proposals ahead of the 6 September deadline.”

Mr Hayman highlights places such as north Humberside and Leicestershire, where local authorities and local businesses disagree about the ‘natural economic boundaries’ on which LEPs are supposed to be based.

In other, multi-tier areas, such as Cambridgeshire and Lancashire, he reports that county councils are in dispute with groups of district, borough or city councils.

In contrast, Mr Hayman cites Sheffield and its neighbours as having developed “thoroughly sensible plans” that break with existing administrative boundaries to bring together parts of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire as a natural economic area.

• LGC article (subscription required)
• Map of proposed LEPs (pdf 12.7MB)

20 August 2010

NCVO has published a new free campaigning guide for trustees of voluntary & community sector organisations.

Linking ideas of advocacy, influence and voice, the Trustee guide to campaigning and influence outlines both legal requirements and good practice in the development and implementation of effective campaigns.

The guide recommends trustees ask themselves four key questions when considering a new campaign:

• Is there a clearly identified end goal?
• What is the likelihood of success?
• What are the resources necessary to achieve this and do we have them?
• Is it clear how the goal relates to you achieving your charitable purposes?

It describes the ‘campaigning cycle’ and includes guidance on political links and the implications for charities of campaigning during an election.

• Download the free guide

20 August 2010

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, has announced details of twelve public sector projects to be run as mutuals by public sector staff working with voluntary & community sector organisations.

They will receive free mentoring advice from staff at several firms including the John Lewis Partnership, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The twelve Pathfinder projects will address issues around education, health, housing and homelessness, multiple disadvantage, and support for children and young people.

Mr Maude said, “This is a big society approach, decentralising power so people can deal with the issues that concern them. We must not be afraid to do things differently if we are to provide better services for less money.”

• Cabinet Office news release

20 August 2010

Government has asked local authorities and businesses to submit proposals, no later than 6 September 2010, for forming local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).

LEPs are intended to take over many of the roles of regional development agencies in promoting local economic regeneration and sustainability.

NAVCA, like many other national and local voluntary & community sector (VCS) organisations, is making the case for the inclusion of local VCS organisations in LEPs, based on the enormous contribution these organisations make to local economies.

Drawing on a wide range of local reports and examples, NAVCA has submitted evidence to the Inquiry into LEPs currently being undertaken by the Business, Innovation & Skills Select Committee.

Locally, VSF Cornwall is promoting Cornwall Council’s consultation with key stakeholders on its proposed LEP, as “a key opportunity for VCS organisations and social enterprises to make their value known”. A vitally important question is

• Who are the key partners, other than business and the public sector, that should be involved in the management of the LEP?

A white paper is due to be published soon, setting out the government’s economic development plans in more detail.

• Cornwall Council consultation
• Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Enterprise Partnership
• more on LEPs

19 August 2010

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles has announced the disbanding of the Audit Commission, in accordance with the coalition government’s strategy of ‘decentralisation’.

A new decentralised audit regime, applicable to local government, police, and local health bodies, will be developed to

• shift power from Westminster to local people, giving new powers to local councils, communities, neighbourhoods and individuals, underpinned by audit reporting to local people
• strengthen the powers of the Local Government Ombudsman, to give residents greater rights when local services go wrong
• free councils to appoint their own independent external auditors from a more competitive and open market among audit firms, thus reducing costs
• maintain robust auditing standards for councils and local health bodies
• ensure independence, competence and quality, including audit quality regulated within a statutory framework, overseen by the National Audit Office and profession
• strengthen the National Audit Office’s role in research
• protect children and vulnerable adults, ensuring that inspection and intervention remain for children’s services and adult social care

Mr Pickles said, “these proposed changes go hand in hand with plans to create an army of armchair auditors - local people able to hold local bodies to account for the way their tax pounds are spent and what that money is delivering.”

• Read the announcement

  
  19 August 2010

“Empowering these [voluntary sector] organisations to lead the way is at the very heart of the Big Society concept,” according to Northamptonshire County Councillor David Mackintosh.

Writing in the Local Government Chronicle (LGC), Mr Mackintosh, who is also chair of a local children’s charity, acknowledges the fears that many public and voluntary & community sector organisations feel about the challenges facing them. He says, “many voluntary sector bodies are not yet equipped to take on the roles which the Big Society could gift them but I am sure they will have the vision.”

“Northamptonshire County Council has an ‘empowering councillor’ scheme… to provide local communities with small amounts of money to make schemes a reality in their neighbourhood.”

“I have seen first-hand how this small funding really brings communities together to do things they had never dreamed of with a sense of pride you only ever get from doing something yourself.”

“Local authorities should be quick to embrace this new concept and help the voluntary sector equip itself for the exciting opportunities ahead.”

• Read the LGC article (subscription required)

19 August 2010

The Equality Act 2010 comes into force from October 2010.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has created a series of non-statutory guidance documents to help explain the Act and provide practical examples on how the law has changed.

The documents cover guidance for employers, workers, service providers and service users. EHRC will be adding guidance for education providers and students in September.

N.B. The guidance does not come into force until 1 October 2010.

• Equality Act 2010 - non-statutory guidance

9 August 2010

The Equality Act 2010 comes into force from October 2010.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has created a series of non-statutory guidance documents to help explain the Act and provide practical examples on how the law has changed.

The documents cover guidance for employers, workers, service providers and service users. EHRC will be adding guidance for education providers and students in September.

N.B. The guidance does not come into force until 1 October 2010.

• Equality Act 2010 - non-statutory guidance

9 August 2010

The Equality Act 2010 comes into force from October 2010.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has created a series of non-statutory guidance documents to help explain the Act and provide practical examples on how the law has changed.

The documents cover guidance for employers, workers, service providers and service users. EHRC will be adding guidance for education providers and students in September.

N.B. The guidance does not come into force until 1 October 2010.

• Equality Act 2010 - non-stautory guidance

9 August 2010