Big Society Capital

The Government’s social investment initiative, Big Society Capital, was launched yesterday.

The fund is made up of contributions from the four ‘Merlin’ banks – RBS, Barclays, Lloyds, and HSBC – and money drawn from dormant bank accounts. Its starting capital of £600 million will be used to invest in charities and social enterprises for a wide variety of socially beneficial projects. Organisations can apply for money on a repayment basis. This marks a significant move away from grants as … Continue Reading

ACEVO produce report calling for rehabilitation reform

ACEVO, the association of voluntary sector leaders, recently produced a report encouraging the government to implement a more progressive rehabilitation agenda.

The report looks at current issues within the prison and criminal justice system, such as the high rates of re-offending, the difficulties of re-integrating offenders into society, and the challenges posed by the process of tendering and commissioning for rehabilitation services. The report makes a number of recommendations, such as:

- Redeploying resources to focus more on rehabilitating offenders

- Putting support in place to ensure that prisoners are ‘set up’ with access to … Continue Reading

£150 million Community First endowment fund launched

A new endowment fund of up to £150 million was launched by the government on the 7th January.  The Community First fund aims to support ‘Big Society’-style community projects around the country.

Community First consists of two strands: the £30m Neighbourhood Match Fund small grants programme for some of the most deprived areas in the country and a national £50m Endowment Match Challenge.

The Neighbourhood Match Fund will use the £30m fund to encourage people in deprived communities to give their time and expertise to local projects, to raise money and help make their local area a better place to live.

The Endowment Match Challenge will aim to raise an initial pot of money from individual and corporate donors, with the government pledging up to £50 million. The return on the resulting endowment is expected to be around … Continue Reading

Welfare Reform Bill to enter Report Stage

The government’s planned reform of welfare has entered the Report Stage in Parliament. The Welfare Reform Bill, as it is likely to be known, will introduce the biggest set of changes to the welfare system for over 60 years. It introduces a wide range of reforms that the government says are designed to make the benefits and tax credits systems ”fairer and simpler.”

The Bill provides for the introduction of a ‘Universal Credit’ to replace a range of existing means-tested benefits and tax credits for people of working age, starting from 2013. Besides introducing Universal Credit and … Continue Reading

Sector leaders produce statement opposing charges for portable CRB check

A number of third sector leaders recently called on the Government to affirm its commitment to volunteering by making portable Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks free to volunteers.

This comes in the wake of plans, announced towards the end of last year, to introduce the new ‘portable’ checks alongside the existing CRB check. The Portable Scheme is a response to calls from volunteers and community groups to reduce the level of red tape that prevents people from giving time. The Portable Scheme will enable them to have just one check which can be used for every charity they apply to. Currently volunteers have to undergo separate CRB checks for each charity that they want to help, with the resultant delays and level of form filling creating a major obstacle to people getting involved.

Whilst the Government has confirmed that CRB checks themselves will remain free for volunteers, a decision has yet to be made about the cost of the online system that will ensure volunteers will not have to be checked every time they begin a new role. The group of leaders, which included Justin Davis Smith CBE, Chief Executive of Volunteering England, as well as a number of Chief Executives of other high-profile third sector organisations, said:

”In the current system CRB checks are free but not portable, but … Continue Reading

FranchisingWorks receives £1 Million of Big Society funds

FranchisingWorks, a Greater Manchester-based organisation specialising in providing support and guidance to people wanting to start up their own franchise business, has been awarded £1 million from the Cabinet Office.

The money is part of a government initiative called the Big Society Investment Fund. In total this fund will release £3.1 million from dormant bank accounts to fund ‘big society’ projects in various parts of the country. The £1 million investment into FranchisingWorks will be put into their Licence fund, and will be used to invest in franchise licences, helping unemployed people without sufficient financial resources to start their own businesses. FranchisingWorks plan that this investment will generate a significant social return by creating new jobs. It also aims to generate a positive financial return including the full return to BSIF of the capital invested.

Alongside FranchisingWorks there are three other organisations … Continue Reading

Government and voluntary sector agree new compact

A new Compact was recently agreed between the government and the voluntary sector.

The Compact sets out the relationship between the government and the voluntary sector and is the basis for their partnership.

The new Compact features an increased emphasis on accountability and includes measures to improve adherence to its principles. Government departments are also required to be more transparent in demonstrating how they implement the compact. For example, departments are now required to include  in their business plans statements of how the Compact is being implemented.

There is additional help available to organisations through the Compact Advocacy Programme. One of the main functions … Continue Reading

Charities Act 2011 receives Royal Assent

The Office for Civil Society, in conjunction with the Law Commission and Charity Commission, have announced that the Charities Act 2011 received Royal Assent on the 14th December. The Act will be implemented into UK law by March 2012.

The 2011 Act is an attempt to streamline previous legislation, which had come under criticism for being cumbersome and hard to follow, especially for those working in a voluntary capacity.  The Charities Act 2011 brings together provisions of the Recreational Charities Act 1958, the Charities Act 1993 and much of the Charities Act 2006, all since amended by other legislation. The Act updates the text and simplifies the structure of the existing legislation.

The new Act does not change the existing law or introduce new policy, and Lord Hodgson’s review of the 2006 Act is still going ahead.

Big Society to be examined

The first audit of Big Society, and the effectiveness of policies to shift power from Government to civil society, has been launched and is expected to be published in early 2012.

Think tank Civil Exchange will be conducting the audit after consulting with Government, academics and others about how exactly to gauge the effectiveness or achievements of what has often been criticised as a woolly social policy.
The research, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, will attempt to establish a ‘baseline’ against which subsequent shifts in behaviour and power can be monitored. The audit will also consider the effectiveness of initiatives by the last Labour government to bring about similar changes.
[from: Civil Society Governance 18.11.11]

Clegg unveils Youth Contract plan

Voluntary sector umbrella body NCVO has welcomed the creation of a £1 billion Government fund to tackle youth unemployment but stresses that the voluntary sector must be involved in its delivery.

Under the Youth Contract, announced by Nick Clegg on 25th November, 410,000 new work and training places will be found for 18 to 24-year-olds from next April over a three-year period. This includes wage subsidies worth £2,275 handed to employers to take on 160,000 young people through the Work
Programme.

Each of these ‘wage incentives’ will be worth half of the youth national minimum wage and last for six months. They will be available for those young people who need the most help after three months, and all of those who have been on Jobseeker’s Allowance for nine months. Mr Clegg also said the contract would offer a work experience placement of up to eight weeks for every unemployed 18 to 24-year-old that wants one. Extra funding for apprenticeships and a £50 million programme to help persistently NEET 16 and 17-year-olds (not in employment, education or training) will be on offer too.

Under the plans, young people who fail to sign up to the Youth Contract will be considered for ‘mandatory work activity’, while those who drop out of work experience or jobs without good reason will lose their benefits.