ILP Infobank News

Locality wins Community Organisers contract

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:51:02 +0000

Locality wins Community Organisers contract:

Locality, formed by the merger of bassac with the Development Trusts Association, has won a £15 million contract to deliver the government’s community organisers initiative.

The programme aims to train 5,000 organisers to help local people develop projects in disadvantaged communities across England.

Locality confirmed that the first projects would be delivered by organisers working in

Barton Hill Settlement, Bristol
Birmingham Settlement, Birmingham
Cambridge House, south London
Community Links, east London
Goodwin Development Trust, Hull
Keystone Development Trust, Norfolk
Kirkgate Arts, Cumbria
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
Penwith Community Development Trust, Cornwall
St Peter’s Partnerships, Tameside, Greater Manchester

2 March 2011

Below the radar in the Big Society

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:50:18 +0000

Below the radar in the Big Society:

A recent working paper from the Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) explores the debates about ‘below the radar’ (BTR) community groups and their assumed role in delivering the Big Society.

It argues that the motivators for community action are, and have been, ill understood in policy circles. Further, there is and has been little systematic analysis of the power relationship between the state (both locally and nationally), communities and neighbourhoods which can inform meaningful debate on devolution and localism.

The paper examines the implications of the new policy environment for small community groups and asks can such activity, which has often been independent of, and operated outside the state, be co-opted to deliver particular government policy objectives?

TSRC working paper

2 March 2011

The Big Society Challenge

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:14:47 +0000

The Big Society Challenge:

The Big Society Challenge brings together a range of authors to explore the issues surrounding the Big Society.

It is part of The Keystone Development Trust Publications series aimed at understanding issues in challenging policy areas that have a direct impact on communities and promoting dialogue amongst practitioners, policy makers and academics.

Keystone Publications are intended to be thought provoking interventions in policy debates, as well as reporting on primary research.

The publications are co-authored by academics and practitioners, often with the support of volunteer researchers and editorial assistants.

download The Big Society Challenge (pdf 1.5MB)

1 March 2011

Leicestershire bid to be Big Society vanguard

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:14:09 +0000

Leicestershire bid to be Big Society vanguard:

Conservative controlled Leicestershire County Council has written to the Prime Minister, offering to replace Liverpool as one of the Big Society vanguard areas, according to an article in Civil Society.

Liverpool withdrew from the initiative last month, citing lack of government support.

Leicestershire Council leader David Parsons said that mush work has been done over the past few years to embed localism in the area.

The council intends to use £5.5 million from reserves to soften the impact of the government’s public spending cuts on services around young offenders and children and young people.

It has also included £500,000 a year in its new budget to help finance Big Society initiatives.

Civil Society article

1 March 2011

National Citizen Service - now on facebook

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:46:45 +0000

National Citizen Service - now on facebook:

The National Citizen Service (NCS) initiative for young people is intended to “support them to develop the skills and attitudes they need to get more engaged with their communities and become active and responsible citizens.”

Twelve pilots were announced last November to take place this summer.

A thousand young people have signed up to the scheme so far and David Cameron has launched a sign-up page on facebook.

11,000 places will be available this year and the Prime Minister hopes to expand this to 30,000 places in 2012.

A comment on the facebook page contrasts these figures with the 965,000 16-24 year olds now officially recorded as unemployed.

16 February 2011

2 new LEPs approved

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:45:52 +0000

2 new LEPs approved:

The approval of proposals for the Enterprise M3 area, covering parts of Hampshire and Surrey, and for York and North Yorkshire, brings the total number of LEPs across England to 30.

The Minister for Decentralisation, Greg Clark, commented, “Local enterprise partnerships will bring people together - local authorities from across administrative divides, business leaders and civic leaders - in a common goal: to promote jobs, growth and prosperity in their local area.”

Mark Prisk, Minister for Business and Enterprise, gave assurance to those areas not yet included in LEPs: “We are continuing to assess proposals for further partnerships across England, so that soon more local communities will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of the private sector and the opportunities that growth brings.”

Central Office of Information announcement

11 February 2011

Compact report will go to PASC

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:15:57 +0000

Compact report will go to PASC:

Cabinet Office plans to invite parliament to create a Civil Society select committee, announced in last June’s draft structural plan, were absent from its business plan published in November.

The proposed select committee’s functions will now be carried out by the existing cross-party Public Administration Select Committee (PASC).

Among its business, the committee will examine a report about the effectiveness of the Compact across government, scheduled for publication by the National Audit Office in July.

The report is expected to include recommendations about how best to enforce the Compact agreement.

2 February 201

Localism Bill - impact assessments

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:57:05 +0000

Localism Bill - impact assessments:

The government has published impact assessments for every ‘package’ of provisions contained in the Localism Bill.

The assessments of the proposed community ‘right to challenge’ and ‘right to buy’ may be of particular interest to voluntary and community sector organisations and community groups delivering services to beneficiaries.

2 February 2011

Sustainable Communities Act - 1st round ends and 2nd round starts

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:56:25 +0000

Sustainable Communities Act - 1st round ends and 2nd round starts:

First round ends

The government has agreed with the Selector (the Local Government Association) on which of the 199 shortlisted proposals made under round one of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 they will implement.

The approved proposals cover such diverse local issues as

business rate relief for SMEs
sustaining local post offices
rights for small-scale renewable energy development
a moratorium on the sale of listed assets to give community groups time to prepare bids
a ban on the sale of alcohol below cost price

The full list of government responses to the proposals is available on the department for Communities and Local Government website:

Sustainable Communities Act 2007: Decisions on proposals submitted following the 2008 invitation

Local Works have published a Best Practice Guide showcasing examples of good community engagement by councils under round one of the Act:

Local Works best practice guide

Second round starts

The process for the next round of submissions has been modified in two very significant ways:

Community groups and Parish and Town Councils can now submit proposals directly to government
The submission process is now a rolling programme, with no deadline

Community groups can submit proposals via the government’s Barrier Busting website:

Barrier Busting website

28 January 2011

A 'book in eight minutes' - Our Society event

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:29:12 +0000

A 'book in eight minutes' - Our Society event:

Capturing ideas of hope, struggle and success from a meeting of 100 community activists, charity workers, networkers and others is something of a challenge, but with a little imagination and a lot of conviction it can be done.

Discussion and debate ranged widely at the meeting of Our Society (formerly Big Society in the North) members hosted by CDX at the Round Foundry Media Centre in Leeds last Thursday 20 January. Cynicism, optimism and vision were all openly on display, often in individual participants.

Our Society aims to be a learning and support network for people involved in community action.

Many of the ideas and feelings expressed by participants are captured in a ‘book in eight minutes’ which can be viewed online.

27 January 2011

'Government is failing to clarify Big Society' - Deloitte report

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:08:44 +0000

'Government is failing to clarify Big Society' - Deloitte report:

“Tensions between central government intent and local government readiness… could restrict localism to a few narrow reforms,” according to a report from global service provider Deloitte.

A little local difficulty: the challenge of making localism work draws on the experience of local government chief executives and identifies four key challenges for local councils:

Significant change to local authority business models
Within communities, there is significant variance in capability and engagement
There is an urgent need to understand what is possible on a systemic, not just ad hoc or experimental, level
There are no common standards of accountability and governance

This report offers an interesting perspective from outside both civil society and public sectors.

A little local difficulty report

27 January 2011

Equality law doesn't apply to volunteers - Court of Appeal

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:07:53 +0000

Equality law doesn't apply to volunteers - Court of Appeal:

Volunteers who are unpaid and do not have a contract are not protected by anti-discrimination legislation, according to a decision by the Court of Appeal reported in Civil Society and Third Sector.

The decision was hailed by a barrister from the employment and discrimination chambers Cloisters, James Galbraith-Marten, as a victory for the voluntary and community sector:

“The need to make adjustments for the disabled, and the cost of litigation, successful or otherwise, that would be generated from the extension of anti-discrimination rights, would be too great a financial burden for many of them to bear,” he said.

27 January 2011

Combined Mayor and Chief Executive for London?

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:06:16 +0000

Combined Mayor and Chief Executive for London?:

Combined Mayor and Chief Executive for London?

A review has been ordered by Greater London Authority (GLA) chief executive Leo Boland into whether his role should be combined with that of elected mayor Boris Johnson.

Proposals in the Localism Bill would enable the mayor immediately to add the chief executive’s powers to his existing role, if the review concludes that only one person is required to fulfil both remits.

If the two positions were combined, the GLA could abolish the chief executive’s role immediately. It would, however, still be required to maintain a head of paid service.

The Localism Bill includes a reserve power, albeit requiring secondary legislation, for the Secretary of State to unite all three roles.

25 January 2010

Tessa Jowell is new shadow Cabinet Office minister

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:36:43 +0000

Tessa Jowell is new shadow Cabinet Office minister:

Tessa Jowell, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, has returned to her former post of shadow Cabinet Office minister in Labour leader Ed Miliband’s reshuffle, following the resignation of Alan Johnson.

Ms Jowell now has responsibility for overseeing the work of shadow minister for civil society Roberta Blackman-Woods.

24 January 2011

When charities may campaign...

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:35:56 +0000

When charities may campaign...:

Charities may campaign for a particular outcome in a referendum, but only when the outcome will directly affect the delivery of their charitable objects, according to new guidance from the Charity Commission.

Giving a rather more likely example, the Commission says, “if the outcome of a referendum will have a particular impact on older people, it would be appropriate for a charity that works with older people to explain the effects of the different outcomes to its beneficiaries.”

The guidance places the onus squarely on trustees to determine how campaigning activities would be an effective way of promoting the objects of their charity.

It also reiterates the Commission’s guidance on charities’ conduct during an election campaign.

Charity Commission guidance

24 January 2011

Localism Bill moves to committtee stage

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:35:19 +0000

Localism Bill moves to committtee stage:

Localism Bill second reading - briefings

NAVCA outlined concerns around the Localism Bill in a briefing sent to MPs for last Monday’s second reading in the House of Commons.

We are particularly keen to see safeguards for the right of local people to challenge service delivery; this should not result in unfair commissioning and procurement advantages for large national and private sector delivery organisations, at the expense of local service providers.

During the debate, shadow communities secretary Hazel Blears called for “unequivocal confirmation” that the community right to challenge local service delivery would not be changed to enable commercial organisations to take over services for private profit.

NAVCA briefing

The Local Government Association (LGA) has also produced a briefing, welcoming the devolution of powers from central to local government, but challenging the bill’s lack of clear commitment to a “post-bureaucratic” form of localism.

LGA briefing (requires log-in)

Localism Bill in Committee

After a remarkably lively second reading debate in the Commons, the Localism Bill is now in its Public Bill Committee stage.

Voluntary & community sector groups and members of the public may submit evidence to the committee to influence the provisions and wording of the bill.

Not just ‘communities of place’…

‘Virtual’ and ‘causal’ communities, as well as geographical communities, will be able to make use of the new powers defined in the Localism Bill, according to Greg Clark, minister for decentralisation, reported in Civil Society.

By ‘virtual’, the minister is understood to mean those geographically dispersed communities of identity, need or interest who are linked by means such as meetings, newsletters, campaigns and online networks.

Civil Society news item

24 January 2011

Labour motion to block Localism Bill

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:34:24 +0000

Labour motion to block Localism Bill:

Labour motion to block Localism Bill

Senior Labour figures have signed a parliamentary motion (of the type known as a ‘reasoned amendment’) to impede the passage through parliament of the government’s Localism Bill.

The motion asserts that the Bill proposes too many powers for the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which could be used to override the wishes of local people and local councils, contrary to the Bill’s supposed intention.

It also states that those parts of the Bill which have to do with community empowerment and planning have been put together “hastily and without adequate consultation with important stakeholders”.

The motion is signed by Labour Leader Ed Miliband, shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Caroline Flint, shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills John Denham, shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson, Barbara Keeley MP and Rosie Winterton MP.

The Full motion states:

“That this House, whilst affirming its belief in the important principle of devolving power to local people and their elected representatives, declines to give a Second Reading to the Localism Bill because the proposed devolution of power to local authorities is undermined both by the extent to which the Bill hands powers to the Secretary of State to over-ride those devolved powers and by the extent of powers of the Secretary of State to direct local authorities in their governance arrangements, and because the community empowerment and neighbourhood planning sections of the Bill, which have been put together hastily and without adequate consultation with important stakeholders, would cause the planning functions of local authorities to become incoherent and ineffective and create new costly and complex systems of service procurement and would reduce the effectiveness of local authorities; and is strongly of the opinion that the publication of such a Bill should have been preceded by both fuller consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny of a draft Bill.

NAVCA sent a briefing to all MPs expressing our own concerns about the Bill ahead of its second reading in the House of Commons this afternoon.

NAVCA briefing for MPs

17 January 2011

Localism Bill 'by-passes councils' - Beecham

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:33:32 +0000

Localism Bill 'by-passes councils' - Beecham:

The Localism Bill should be renamed “the Populism (Councillor and Town Hall By-Pass and Buck Passing) Bill,” according to shadow local government minister Lord Beecham, quoted in the Local Government Chronicle.

Expressing a profound concern that the bill will severely weaken the powers of local councils, he targeted particularly

the proposals for introducing more directly elected mayors, which he said showed an unrealistic expectation of the electorate’s enthusiasm to vote in local elections
implementing referendums on excessive council tax rises
ignoring the value of councils’ scrutiny functions. He claimed that the bill’s focus on scrutiny being to hold the executive to account was too “adversarial” and risked the positive effects scrutiny could have on policy making

On the first of these proposals, he described the government as “taking the unprecedented step of proposing to convert existing council leaders into shadow mayors with full mayoral powers, like some mediaeval alchemist turning base metal into gold…

“The real heart of the bill appears to rest on the twin [sic.] assumptions that there is an insatiable appetite on the part of citizens for voting.”

Lord Beecham, however, welcomed the proposed introduction of a power of general competence for councils.

Beecham slams bill for undermining councils (log-in required)

14 January 2011

Localism Bill - scrutiny briefing

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:32:39 +0000

Localism Bill - scrutiny briefing:

The Localism Bill is examined from a scrutiny perspective in a new briefing from the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS).

CfPS will be engaging closely with the department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) on the new statutory scrutiny powers contained within the bill.

CfPS invites comments on the contents of the Bill and responses to the briefing from any interested parties.

CfPS Localism Bill briefing

14 January 2011

New and emerging LEPs

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:31:53 +0000

New and emerging LEPs:

A new local enterprise partnership (LEP) for the north east of England has been approved by ministers today.

It will cover the following local authority areas:

Durham
Gateshead
Newcastle
North Tyneside
Northumberland
South Tyneside
Sunderland

Other areas in the north east are covered by the already approved Tees Valley LEP.

Lincolnshire talks

The South Humberside situation may have moved closer to resolution with the announcement from North East Lincolnshire council that it’s in negotiation with Lincolnshire county council.

Although no formal agreement has been reached, North East Lincolnshire leader Andrew De Freitas says that the two councils are having exploratory talks about the possiblility of his area joining the Greater Lincolnshire partnership.

13 January 2011