Transforming Local Infrastructure beneficiaries announced

The recipients of the £30 million Tranforming Local Infrastructure fund were announced a few days ago. The fund, which aims to instigate long-term change in voluntary sector infrastructure, will be distributed among 72 partnerships around the country. It is expected that this fund will be the last time significant investment is made by government into third sector infrastructure support services.

Each successful local partnership will now begin the initial stages of implementing the proposals they made in the TLI bids back in the second half of last year. The Cabinet Office, announcing the beneficiaries, said that the fund will help infrastructure partnerships to:

- Provide high quality, joined up support to frontline charities

- Forge better links between V&CS organisations with business

- Improve co-ordination between the V&CS and the public sector

- Enable more people to volunteer.

BIG Lottery will also administer an additional pot of at least £20 million. Details … Continue Reading

*New* Web Services Survey – 20th Jan 2012

The Office for Civil Society (OCS) in the Cabinet Office and the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) are running a joint survey to seek views on how the web is used by civil society organisations to access advice and support, funding information and networking opportunities. BIG and OCS have decided to do this short piece of learning work together because we have a shared interest in hearing the views of both suppliers and users. We want to know how online services help organisations build learning, and develop skills and capabilities. This survey will help us build on the findings of the Supporting Civil Society consultation which OCS ran from October 2010-January 2011.

Here are some questions and answers  which you might find helpful. The survey should take no more than fifteen minutes to complete and will close on Friday 20 January 2012. We are very grateful for the time you spend in completing this.

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

Shake-Up Of Domestic Violence Laws Planned – December 2011

Ministers are planning a shake-up of domestic violence laws that could see “controlling” partners face criminal charges.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is to launch a new consultation within days aimed at bringing in a legal definition of what constitutes abuse against a spouse or partner.

There were more than one million victims of domestic violence in England and Wales last year, according to the Home Office. Across the UK, one in four women are
likely to experience some level of domestic abuse. At present there is no specific criminal offence of domestic violence in Britain, although that may be about to change. Read more here ….

National Survey of TUPE Regulations Effectiveness (NCVO reserach)

The impact of liabilities for staff transfer when public service contracts are won or lost can be dramatic.

The Regulations that govern this (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)) are complex and implemented in wildly different ways.

We here numerous stories about the costs and repercussions of taking on or transferring over staff with contracts. But now we need to get solid evidence on a national level to present our case for change to government.

Along with ACEVO, NAVCA, Social Enterprise UK and others, we’re surveying the whole voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to find out:

• How TUPE Regulations affect you
• What changes you want to see

Why now?

We’re feeding this information into a wider Government survey run by the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation. We want to collect the data first though so we can a) provide you with better support b) make sure the sector is represented collectively.

Our survey closes on 20th January 2012 and we’ll then present the anonymousevidence direct to Government, as well as sharing the findings with you all.

What you need to do

Firstly, if you don’t understand TUPE, read our factsheet.

NAVCA’s Guide for charity trustees on commissioning for public services

At Your Bidding is a guide for charity trustees about commissioning and tendering for public services, published in partnership with the Local Government Association.

At a time of significant change within the public sector, the guide aims to:

• Provide some context about the commissioning of public services so that trustees can understand the potential implications and impact of commissioning at a strategic level on their charity
• Outline the issue to consider and the decisions that trustees have to make regarding bidding for service contracts
• Describe the steps that trustees need to take to make sure their organisation is tender and contract ready
• Draw attention to key areas for risk assessment and risk management
• Signpost to other useful publications, reources and sources of information and advice

This publication is not a detailed technical manual on how to tender. The focus is squarely on the key issues that individuals need to be aware of in fulfilling their duties as charity trustees.

NCVO Best Practice Guide to working with the VCS to implement spending reductions

Recent research undertaken by NCVO’s Policy Team has been compiled into a Best Practice Guide for Local Authorities and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). The guide makes recommendations for councils on the variety of ways that they can offer support to the sector, as well as benefit from wider collaboration. These recommendations encourage councils to take one, or indeed all of the following actions:

1. Enable communication
2. Offer in-kind support
3. Skill-up the sector
4. Encourage partnerships between organisations
5. Budget collaboratively

Survey Request – Community&Youth Work Ltd

This research aims to critically analysis the impact of the coalition government on Community and Youth Work. Its will take around five minutes to complete.

Please help and click here

Resilience Survey – how are the smaller VCS groups coping?

Community North West, in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, is conducting a Resilience Survey across the North West to see how community groups and smaller voluntary organisations are planning to survive the current recession.

The survey looks at what problems groups are facing and asks about their plans to survive the current climate as well as what support they may need.

The link to the survey is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/resiliencenorthwest.

The interim findings will be available at the Resilience Conference that is being jointly organised with MMU and the NW TUC in Manchester on 1 December, for further information about the event, visit: www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/event/resilience-seminars-community-g….

For further information about the Survey, contact Dave Hannay, on 01282 692 323.

Counting the cuts

NCVO recently published a research paper detailing the spending cuts affecting the voluntary sector.

The paper details a number of key findings, most notably that the cuts are estimated to amount to a £2.8 billion loss for the sector nationwide over the period of the spending review (2011 – 2016). This cost is amplified by things like the rise of VAT and reductions in charitable giving that accompanied the recession.

A major concern is the effect this will have on preventative services; the report points out that while cuts now may give short-term economic relief, the reduction of the VCS’s ability to deliver preventative work will mean big challenges – and costs – further in the future.

The report is keen to remind us that while things are difficult, there are opportunities for our sector, such as the changes taking place in public sector reform.

To read the full report click here.