NCVO’s president Lord Hodgson will chair the taskforce, and other members are Andrew Hind, retiring Chief Executive of the Charity Commission; Lynne Berry, chief executive WRVS, David Tyler, chief executive Community Matters, Sir Graham Melmoth, retiring chair NCVO and past chief executive Co-operative Group and David Thompson, chair of Marstons PLC.
Small charities gain temporary reprieve from music charges
Ten days ago the Chief Executives of NCVO, NAVCA and Volunteering England wrote to Government Ministers calling on them to protect the very smallest charities from new music charges. As a result, NCVO has learnt that the legislation due to be laid last week will now be delayed.
Focus regeneration money on local assets, says study
Public agencies may have been spending regeneration money on the wrong things, according to a think tank. Research by the Chamberlain Forum into regeneration investment in Birmingham shows places that benefitted from modest but well-targeted community initiatives experienced some of the biggest growth in property values over the past ten years.
Four areas to demonstrate Big Society ‘oomph’
The government has chosen four ‘vanguard communities’ to pilot its vision of Big Society. Liverpool, Eden Valley in Cumbria, Windsor and Maidenhead and the London borough of Sutton will each be given a community organiser and access to dedicated civil servants to help empower local people to take control of services.
Co-production can deliver Big Society, says study
Co-production of local public services offers the best chance of making Big Society a success, according to a new report. Right here, right now calls for a radical shake-up in the way services are delivered, so that users become equal partners.
Will cuts undermine the progress in riot-hit Birmingham?
Twenty-five years after riots erupted in inner-city Birmingham, locals say investment in the area is beginning to pay off. But there are fears that progress could be under threat.
For two nights running, Wazeem Zaffar looked out from his bedroom window to see flames rising from shops that had been petrol bombed. He could hear shouts, screams, the smashing of glass and the wailing of sirens. “My father forbade me to set foot outside the door for two days,” he recalls.
Study highlights Big Society’s ‘rhetoric and reality gap’
There is a significant disparity between expectations of the Big Society and the sector’s current capacity, according to new research. The report by think tank IPPR North claims that, without support, community and social enterprise will not be able to rise to the challenge of the Big Society and argues there are insufficient numbers of ‘enterprise ready’ organisations looking to contract with the public sector.
Government announce suspension of vetting and barring scheme rollout
“Home Secretary Theresa May is to announce that registration, due to begin next month, is to be put on hold. The government is now contacting 66,000 organisations, including charities, voluntary groups and education authorities, to tell them that the planned registration is being cancelled”.
Detail on local government cuts revealed
Funding for programmes including the Working Neighbourhood Fund, Local Enterprise Growth Initiative and Prevent will be cut as part of local government’s £1.166bn contribution towards the overall £6.2bn deficit. The three programmes will face grant cuts totalling nearly £75m between them, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has revealed.
Total Place ‘whole area approach’
Total Place is a new initiative that looks at how a ‘whole area’ approach to public services can lead to better services at less cost. It seeks to identify and avoid overlap and duplication between organisations – delivering a step change in both service improvement and efficiency at the local level, as well as across Whitehall.
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