January 2010
37 posts
'To campaign or not to campaign?' - three... →
Campaigning - a key election issue?
How far is campaigning an appropriate and legitimate part of the voluntary and community sector’s role, and how far should we concentrate simply on delivering services? This is emerging as a key issue in the run-up to the coming general election, both within the sector and beyond it. Have we surrendered both our right and our ability to challenge the...
'Multiple identity approach to equality needed' -... →
The current approach to equality and diversity issues is “out of date, alienates many people and is often counter-productive,” according to a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research. The authors of You Can’t Put Me In A Box - Super-diversity and the end of identity politics in Britain, gay rights campaigner Simon Fanshawe and Royal Commonwealth Society...
'Include voluntary & community sector in Total... →
The voluntary and community sector has unique skills and benefits to offer to councils working to improve services in the light of Total Place, according to John Denham. In a speech to the New Local Government Network, Mr Denham said, “It does not make sense to exclude the many excellent voluntary and third sector providers. “They may not offer the cheapest contract in terms of ...
'Inequality handed down the generations' - NEP... →
Inequality increases over the course of a person’s life and is handed on to the next generation, according to a new report by the National Equality Panel (NEP). An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK finds that inequalities in Britain are high compared with the situation in other industrialised nations and that the growth in inequality that occurred during the 1970s and 1980s has...
CAA - LGA publishes report on year 1 →
Comprehensive area assessment (CAA) has yet to realise its promised potential, according to a new report from the Local Government Association (LGA). CAA evaluation: a sector perspective on year 1 argues that the outcomes-focussed approach taken by CAA has helped to strengthen local partnership working. It states, however, that the work of the six joint inspectorates led by the Audit...
'Policy should draw on front line evidence' -... →
Britain’s system of government needs urgent reform, according to the Better Government Initiative (BGI), established by a group of former senior civil servants, including Lord Butler, Sir John Chilcot and Sir Thomas Legge. BGI’s executive committee has recently set out its concerns and recommendations in Good Government: reforming parliament and the executive, produced with the...
Campaigning and election politics - new guidance →
The Charity Commission has published new guidance for charitable organisations who may want to campaign on their issues during general and local election campaigns. Charities and Elections is intended to help charities ensure that they are able both to maintain their independence and to campaign effectively, without compromising their position by inadvertantly becoming entangled in party...
'Rights and Responsibilities' - consultation to... →
The closing date for the consultation on the government’s green paper, Rights and Responsibilities: developing our constitutional framework will be 26 February 2010.
The green paper, which was published in March 2009,
‘sets out the central constitutional question of the relationship between the citizen and the State
‘considers rights, responsibilities and values, which unite...
Total Place reveals £11 billion potential savings... →
£11 billion, or nearly 15%, of the spending on public services in London could be saved, according to the findings of a Total Place report commissioned from Pricewaterhouse Coopers by the London Councils. Total Place - towards a new service model for Londoners reports on the detailed scrutiny of spending on chronic care, anti-social behaviour in young people and worklessness. This work...
Connecting Communities - 49 neighbourhoods added... →
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG), John Denham, has extended the £12 million Connecting Communities programme to a further 49 neighbourhoods and announced an additional £20 million funding for next year. According to CLG, over 161 areas across all nine English regions are now included in the initiative. “The communities being targeted are those where some...
Sustainable income is still sector's top priority... →
Sustainable funding remains the main concern for 88% of charities with turnovers of less than £1 million, 77% of organisations with incomes of £1 million to £6 million, and 56% with incomes over £6 million, according to ThirdSector’s State of the Sector survey. Futurebuilders, Gift Aid and local Compacts are reported as having made little positive impact. Those who felt the national...
'Form must follow function' - McInroy calls for... →
“In economic terms we need flexibility which allows local authority areas to work together and do different things at various geographical levels,” according to Neil McInroy, Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Studies. Writing in the Local Government Chronicle (LGC), Mr McInvoy calls for more of a debate on local government structures, arguing that “We need ...
The future of local government - a Conservative... →
Regional government should be minimised and local government empowered, according to proposals presented to the shadow cabinet in a paper by Paul Carter, Conservative leader of Kent County Council. Writing in the Local Government Chronicle (LGC), and in line with current Conservative policy, Mr Carter rejects further local government reorganisation, instead proposing devolution of funding and...
'Governments should create conditions for... →
Wellbeing can and should be measured, according to a new report from the Young Foundation and IDeA. The state of happiness: can public policy shape people’s wellbeing and resilience? uses the findings from detailed pilot projects in Hertfordshire, Manchester and South Tyneside to argue for prioritising programmes that
teach children resilience in schools
promote opportunities for...
'The state should resource community groups' - CDF... →
Properly resourced community groups can complement public services, delivering both outcomes that such services cannot achieve and efficiency savings too, according to a new report from the Community Development Foundation (CDF). Help from within - An exploration of community self help examines how investing in community groups can deliver social and economic benefits for communities, public...
'Total Place and the third sector' - IDeA... →
The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) has consulted with voluntary and community (third) sector representatives to produce recommendations for its report on the Total Place pilots to the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG). The recommendations emerged from a day-seminar on 15 January 2010, attended by voluntary and community (third) sector partners. These included...
'Publishing government data online will increase... →
The Cabinet Office has announced the launch of a new website offering unprecedented access to a wide range of public data held by the government. This initiative fulfils one of the commitments made by the Prime Minister in last December’s policy document Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government. Based on advice from Sir Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the world wide web) and his...
'£900 million in efficiency savings forecast by... →
England’s regional improvement and efficiency partnerships (RIEPs) forecast £900 million in efficiency savings, according to an article in the Local Government Chronicle (LGC). RIEPs are responsible for supporting local authorities and partnerships through regional improvement and efficiency strategies, based on local area agreement (LAA) priorities. The RIEPs are bidding for a third...
'Have your say' on Community Contracts →
Shadow local government minister Bob Neil has said that the Conservatives would give a manifesto commitment to overturn plans for a unitary authority in Norfollk, according to a report on the EDP24 (formerly Eastern Daily Press) website. The proposed unitary authority, recommended by the Boundaries Committee for England, would replace Norfolk’s present county council and seven district...
'Conservatives would overturn Norfolk unitary' -... →
Shadow local government minister Bob Neil has said that the Conservatives would give a manifesto commitment to overturn plans for a unitary authority in Norfollk, according to a report on the EDP24 (formerly Eastern Daily Press) website. The proposed unitary authority, recommended by the Boundaries Committee for England, would replace Norfolk’s present county council and seven district...
'Have your say' on Community Contracts →
The roll-out of community contracts or neighbourhood agreements, announced by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG) John Denham earlier this month, is attracting a variety of comments. NewStart magazine hosts a blog where you can share your experiences and express your own views of Community Contracts.
NewStart article
NewStart blog
More on Community Contracts
'One-stop shop' for government consultations →
NAVCA partner NCVO offers a feed of links to government and other public consultations on its Forum for Change website. Here you can find out what consultations are currently open for responses and when they close. The site has a search facility to help you find consultations that are relevant to your area of work. Recently posted topics include
Supporting people into work (Dept for Work and...
'Government absolutely committed to eradicating... →
“The government has an absolute commitment to eradicating racism and promoting race equality,” John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said today. A new document, Tackling Race Inequality: A Statement on Race, describes the government’s work on race equality over the past decade, following the publication of the Macpherson Report on the Stephen...
Duty to Promote Democracy shelved →
The proposal to impose on local authorities a statutory Duty to Promote Democracy has been shelved, at least until the next government spending review, for which no date is currently set. The proposal was included in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which became law in November last year. On 16 December 2009, in response to a question from Shadow Secretary...
Recruiting call for Compact Champions →
Compact Champions are at the centre of making the Compact work. Their role is to promote awareness and use of the Compact within their organisations. Compact Voice, the voluntary and community sector organisation for issues around the Compact, plans to recruit hundreds of new Champions this year. It has dedicated a new area of its website to sharing information from around the country about...
Getting Women in to LSPs - new briefing paper →
Women still face disproportionate poverty in the UK, and they also face serious exclusion from the decision making processes that affect the local policies and public services on which they rely, according to a new briefing paper from Oxfam. Following their 2007 research report Where are the Women in LSPs?, Oxfam has conducted two pilot projects, in Sunderland and Thurrock, to examine how...
Suffolk councils consider alternatives to unitary... →
Suffolk’s local councils are considering what arrangements they might make if the current proposals for a county-wide unitary authority are not fulfilled, according to the Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Building on existing co-operation, the councils will discuss the possibilities for shared contracts and operational and managerial services. Further developments in partnership ...
The Future of LAAs - LGC & NLGN Conference... →
The Local Government Chronicle and New Local Government Network held their annual conference on local area agreements (LAAs) in London on 24 November 2009. The speakers were generally supportive of LAAs, giving accounts of how the agreements were working in their areas and offering views from a wide variety of perspectives on how they might be developed in the future. Local Government...
The future of campaigning - new guide from NCVO →
A new guide considers the trends or drivers that may shape campaigning over the next five years and how voluntary and community organisations might respond. What will campaigning be like in 5 years’ time? is the latest in the Future Focus series, published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). The guide identifies and examines six drivers, including the growth of...
New government faith advisers →
John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has appointed 13 new faith advisers to be a ‘sounding board’ for government policy. Mr Denham emphasises the importance of respecting faith in its own right, and not simply as something that motivates adherents to deliver services around issues such as poverty and homelessness. The new advisers are
the Revd...
Sustainable Communities Act - Amendment Bill to be... →
The Sustainable Communities Act (SCA), which was supported by all three major political parties, created new one-off opportunities for people to engage with their local authorities in seeking the Government’s support for positive change in their areas. Some 300 proposals were submitted, through the Local Government Association (‘the Selector’), and are currently being...
Community contracts - report on pilots →
A report on the Community Contract pilots has been published by the National Association for Neighbourhood Management (NANM). Concluding that “community contracts can work in a number of different contexts,” the report makes suggestions about where community contracts can contribute to a range of initiatives such as comprehensive area assessment and local area agreements, ...
Unitary debates continue as boundaries... →
Under the recently-passed Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, from 1 April 2010 responsibility for setting local government boundaries will move from the Electoral Commission’s Boundary Committee for England to the new Local Government Boundary Commission. Meanwhile, the Keep Norfolk Local campaign against the Boundary Committee’s recommendation for a...
Plans for promoting democracy - Novas Scarman →
The Novas Scarman Group (NSG) reviews its work over the past year and sets out its plans for the future in a series of brochures published on 21 December 2009, covering:
NSG overview
Campaigning and influencing
Pathways for work learning
Social enterprise
Personalised support services
Plans include “a campaign to promote learning for democracy and practical politics, building an...
'A Vision for Neighbourhoods' - new paper from... →
Community Matters has published a new paper looking at the risks and challenges facing communities in the next ten years. A Vision for Neighbourhoods supports a preventative approach to investment in public services, as outlined in the report Backing the Future: Why investing in children is good for us all, published in September 2009 by the New Economics Foundation and Action for Children. ...
Denham promotes community contracts for local... →
Councils and local residents should sign ‘community contracts’, also called ‘neighbourhood charters’, to drive up the standards of local services and ensure redress when services fail to deliver, according to John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG). This announcement follows the establishment of the personalisation of care budgets, and...
'What we get for our money' - Denham announces... →
Previous local spending reports (LSRs) have been much criticised for failing to provide the expected level of detail both about how much is spent on public services, such as the police, fire and rescue and health, and also about what that spending actually delivers. John Denham, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG), has announced that the ‘next generation’ ...