News items and articles

Young Lives aims to keep the VCS informed of the latest news, reports and information affecting children and young people and the groups and organisations working with them.  This page contains links to items from daily e-bulletins, journals, publications and other websites that are of interest to the children and young people's sector.

February 2012

Hurd: complaints about the Compact should come directly to me
Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has said organisations that feel there are ‘serious grounds for complaint' in how the Compact is working should take it up directly with him.
Hurd (pictured) was speaking at a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Civil Society and Volunteering held by the NCVO, which looked at the Compact.
The APPG's chair Alun Michael MP told Hurd that there had been "pretty awful examples" of serious breaches of the Compact at the Department for Health and the Department of Justice. "I know how ***** awful it's been," he said. "There are instances when some don't get the difference between grants and procuring services, which is quite basic. Also, there are instances of not delivering on promises." In response, Hurd said he hoped the parties could talk to try and resolve issues. But, he added that the Office for Civil Society existed to be a champion of the Compact, and said that serious grounds for complaint should be directed to him, and he would take it up. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/11454/hurd_complaints_about_the_compact_should_come_directly_to_me

Charity Commission's new regulatory framework places greater responsibility on trustees
New document emphasises prevention of problems and a focus on 'serious risk'. The Charity Commission has today outlined its new approach to regulation, which will place greater emphasis on preventing problems rather than dealing with them after they occur. Our regulatory approach to protecting the public's interest in charity: how we assess and manage risks was developed following the commission's decision to restructure in the light of its funding being reduced by almost a third between 2010/11 and 2014/15. Sam Younger, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said the document placed a "greater expectation" on trustees to tackle risks "head-on". It says the commission will adopt a three-stage process to deciding when and how to investigate charities and will focus on instances of "serious risk". It will first ask whether the commission needs to get involved; then, if it proceeds, it will assess the nature and level of risk before finally considering the most effective response. The publication says the commission will "place an emphasis on preventing problems" by identifying risks early and providing web-based guidance. The regulator will use, whenever possible, "streamlined powers" and encourage charities to "self-certify" changes. It gives an example of charities being able to use its website to seek legal consent to change their articles of association. The document says the regulator will "apply fewer resources to assessing charities with model or standard governing documents" and will fast-track such applications. But it pledges the commission will "routinely check a sample of accounts each year and take appropriate follow-up action". Read more at Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Governance/article/1112195/charity-commissions-new-regulatory-framework-places-greater-responsibility-trustees/

January 2012

Children's Commissioner's scrutiny of Welfare Reform Bill
On the 11th January the Children's Commissioner for England published a child rights impact assessment of the welfare reform bill. This identifies the rights of disabled children, those living in families who receive housing benefits, and those in poverty as being at risk. The following risks are of real concern:
• An increase in child poverty as a result of the household benefit cap and housing benefit changes, resulting in poor health and educational outcomes for children
• The threat of a potential increase in household rent arrears due to reduced housing benefit payments
• Families living in poverty diverting money away from necessities for children's health and wellbeing such as heating, warm clothing, and nutritious food in order to cover their housing costs
• Children becoming homeless as a result of unaffordable housing for their families
• A disproportionate impact of some of the Bill's benefit changes on children from some BME groups, disabled children, and children of disabled parents
• Families having no crisis support in the event of flood, fire, or serious illness as a result of the Bill's abolition of the Social Fund.
Read more at:
http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/press_release/content_456

Commission on youth service provision to launch
A commission to determine minimum levels of youth service provision at a local level is to be set up by the National Youth Agency. The work, which will involve the creation of "sufficiency measures", is intended to feed into a government consultation on plans to revise existing guidance on the duty to secure sufficient activities for young people. Proposals to slim down the existing guidance were announced in the Positive for Youth policy paper, unveiled last month. Speaking at a conference in London on the future role of councils in supporting young people yesterday (17 January), Fiona Blacke, chief executive of the NYA, said plans to create a commission of four or five experts are in place. Read more at CYPNow:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1112803/commission-youth-service-provision-launch/

Joseph Rowntree plans UK anti-poverty strategy
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust together plan to invest up to £125m over the next three years on services, research, and new property developments. The proposals are outlined in the two organisations' new three-year strategic plan, published this month. Top of their priority list is to identify the causes of poverty and inequality and produce a UK-wide anti-poverty strategy. They will also track the impact of the deficit on poverty and inequality and develop practical solutions to reducing poverty. The organisations will also work towards being anti-poverty organisations themselves, by aiming to pay all staff a wage that is equal or more to the Foundation's Minimum Income Standard for a single working-age adult. And they will try to maximise the income of Housing Trust residents by enhancing energy efficiency, exploring the potential for community enterprises, and promoting credit unions. The charities have also committed to reduce their own carbon emissions by at least 20 per cent between 2010 and 2020. The trusts are clear about their status: "We are independent, but we are not neutral: we are on the side of people and places in poverty." Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/11345/joseph_rowntree_plans_uk_anti-poverty_strategy

Troubled families
A troubled family is one that has serious problems - including parents not working, mental health problems, and children not in school - and causes serious problems, such as crime and anti-social behaviour. All of which costs local services a lot of time and money routinely responding to these problems. Read all about the planned work at Communities and Local Government:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/troubledfamilies/

Big Society 'has led to misleading perceptions of big charities'
Large charities including NSPCC, RSPCA and the Red Cross have been talking about how to alter public perception that the Big Society is all about big charities guzzling up public sector contracts. NSPCC's director of corporate services, Alan Wardle, revealed details about the discussions yesterday at a parliamentary event on the Big Society hosted by think tank ResPublica. He said that a problem with the government's Big Society agenda was that it was perceived as being about big charities delivering services. "There is a perception that large charities are guzzling up public sector contracts, against an agenda of cuts," he said. "But, we receive less than 10 per cent of our income from the state. Discussions have been held by other big charities in a similar position this week. "Many household-name charities are not dependent on the state. In fact they run services in parallel to the state for free," he added. Wardle told civilsociety.co.uk that charities such as NSPCC, British Red Cross and the RSPCA, were in the early stages of thinking about how to start a more nuanced discussion around the Big Society agenda: "Some large charities do take lots of public contracts and we recognise that - but it's been the dominant narrative," he said. "The conversation has to become more nuanced. Large charities also have great, engaging stories to tell around social action, volunteering and innovation. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/11300/big_society_has_led_to_misleading_perceptions_of_big_charities

Voluntary sector workforce has fallen by 70,000
Employment in the voluntary sector has dropped by 8.7 per cent in the last year, according to the latest Labour Force Survey results. This is the third consecutive quarter of decline for the sector workforce with the third quarter results for 2011 showing that the sector employs 723,000 people, compared with 793,000 in Q3 2010. Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, blamed government spending cuts which, he said, "are hitting the voluntary sector disproportionately". Over the past 12 months public sector employment has fallen by 4.3 per cent while private sector employment rose by 1.5 per cent. Etherington said: "It is essential that government at all levels make cuts intelligently and with adequate notice, in accordance with the best value guidance for working with the voluntary sector." Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/11273/further_decline_in_sector_workforce

Government changes law to allow charities to join credit unions
Charities, social enterprises and community groups will be able to join a credit union from next week under changes made to the Credit Unions Act 1979.
Previously, only individuals were able to be members of credit unions and use the financial services they provide. However, last November, a Legislative Reform Order was passed by Parliament, under the Credit Unions Act 1979, meaning that from 8 January credit unions can:
• Reach out to more people by extending membership to new groups - as a credit union will no longer have to prove that everyone who can join the credit union has something in common
• Provide services to community groups, social enterprises and businesses, not just individuals
• Choose to pay interest on savings, instead of a dividend
Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/11220/government_changes_law_to_allow_chariites_to_join_credit_unions  

December 2011

Survey reveals what MPs think about charities delivering public services
There are clear differences of opinion between Conservative and Labour MPs, reveals Laurence Stellings from Populus. Research by Populus into attitudes towards public service reform, and the open public services white paper, has revealed tensions in the views of the public towards voluntary and private sector involvement in public services and sharp differences between the views of Conservative and Labour MPs. So long as public services remain free at the point of use, the public are relaxed about private and third sector involvement: 74% say the most important thing is having high-quality free public services, not who is involved in running them; 69% agree that if a private or voluntary organisation can deliver a public service more efficiently than the state, then they should be allowed to do so; only 19% believe voluntary organisations and private contractors have no role to play in delivering frontline public services. But Populus went beyond the public's general attitudes and tested the specific scenarios where the private or third sectors might provide public services. A recurring pattern emerged; the public's support for concrete examples of external provision of public services never reached the same levels as their principle support. Read more at Guardian blog:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2011/dec/09/poll-mps-public-services-attitudes
Download the survey results at:
http://www.populus.co.uk/Poll/Public-Services-Survey/
download the open Public Services White Paper at:
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/open-public-services-white-paper

Early intervention could be key theme of next spending review, Cameron indicates
Prime Minister David Cameron is considering making early intervention a central theme of the next comprehensive spending review. During this week's Prime Minister's Questions, Graham Allen, early intervention champion and Labour MP for Nottingham North, called on the government to make "early intervention in the lives of babies, children and young people a theme for all departments in the next comprehensive spending review." Cameron said: "That is a very sensible suggestion. I think that we can look at it in the context of the next spending round." The Prime Minister added that early intervention was a focus of the Cabinet's family committee, which he chairs. Allen, who has produced two reports for the government on early intervention, said prioritising the issue in the next spending review was crucial to "reduce the massive costs of failure, including educational underachievement, 120,000 dysfunctional families, summers of discontent and many, many lifetimes wasted on benefits." Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Health/article/1107401/Early-intervention-key-theme-next-spending-review-Cameron-indicates/

Disadvantaged children continue to fall behind in their development
The majority of early years aged children who are eligible for free school meals are still failing to achieve a good level of development, according to latest Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) figures. The figures for 2011 show that just 44 per cent of pupils in this group achieved a good level of development in areas such as communication, play and social interaction. This is 18 per cent below the proportion of pupils who are not eligible for free school meals who attained this level of development. However, the figures show that the gap is narrowing. Only 40 per cent of pupils who are eligible for free school meals were developing to a good level in 2010 and in 2007 just under 30 per cent of this group achieved this level of development. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Childcare_and_Early_Years/article/1107394/disadvantaged-children-continue-fall-behind-development/

Government falls short on children's rights, claims charity
The government has failed to act on the majority of the UN's recommendations to improve children's rights in England, according to the latest Children Rights Alliance for England (Crae) report. The annual State of Children's Rights in England study found the government had made progress in only a third of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's 118 recommendations for England, which were made in 2008. Crae said that there had been significant improvement on just 18 of the recommendations, three had been fully met and progress was expected in another 13. But according to the report the government's actions have in fact undermined children's rights in 15 of the UN's recommendations and no progress had been made regarding 59 others. In addition, children's rights are at a risk of being undermined in a further 10 recommendations. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Joint_working/article/1108026/Government-falls-short-childrens-rights-claims-charity/

Sector wins VAT exemption on shared services
The government has confirmed it will introduce the long-awaited VAT exemption for civil society organisations that wish to share back-office services. Confirmation of the exemption is contained in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement Document published today. It removes an additional VAT charge which can arise when organisations such as charities collaborate. The exemption will apply to "services shared between VAT exempt bodies, including charities and universities". Charity Finance Directors' Group and the NCVO were quick to welcome the news, which was largely the result of heavy lobbying by them and other sector bodies. A requirement that charities who want to share services must set up a separate legal entity to do so was opposed by the sector but has been retained in the government proposal. However Caron Bradshaw, CFDG's CEO, said HMRC has sought to mitigate this issue by relaxing the control condition - "making it much more likely that charities with existing staff and resources will create an independent cost- sharing group which others can then join." Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/11059/sector_wins_vat_exemption_on_shared_services

November 2011

Project to stamp out negative perceptions of young people attracts thousands of supporters
A two-year drive to tackle negative perceptions of young people has engaged more than 36,000 people in intergenerational activities. Thousands of people from seven UK cities got involved in The Co-operative's Truth about Youth project, which aims to counter negative images of young people through a range of youth-led and intergenerational activities. Charities from London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow have received a share of £2m in funding to promote the programme. Seven young people have now been chosen to form a national youth advisory panel that will promote the scheme across the UK. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1106133/project-stamp-negative-perceptions-young-people-attracts-thousands-supporters/

NAVCA backs Newcastle plan to use strikes savings to support the sector
NAVCA Chief Executive, Kevin Curley, has praised a council's plan to give savings from the public sector strike to voluntary and community sector groups fighting poverty. The idea came from trade union members in Newcastle and has won the support of the council - meaning up to £100,000 could now go to hard-pressed community projects tackling poverty, reducing worklessness and improving neighbourhoods in deprived areas. NAVCA is urging all other public service employers who will benefit from strike savings to follow this example.
Kevin Curley said: "It would have been very easy for Newcastle City Council to quietly pocket the savings from the strike. "The fact that they followed the advice of their unions and put that money into local voluntary organisations shows real leadership and a genuine concern for the people who are suffering most from the public spending cuts. "Voluntary organisations across the country are struggling to maintain their services as their funding gets squeezed. "I hope others in the public sector will follow Newcastle's lead and put their savings to good use by supporting voluntary organisations tackling poverty. If they do it will bring much needed resources to the most deprived communities." Visit the NAVCA website at:
http://www.navca.org.uk/news/view-article/newcastle-strike-plan

Government will not step in to protect youth services
Children's minister Tim Loughton has revealed the government has no plans to intervene with local authority services for young people despite 28 authorities not providing spending plans for youth work. Speaking in parliament, Loughton said figures provided to government by local authorities show that the average gross spend on services for young people is down 25 per cent in 2011/12 compared to 2010/11. A total of 28 authorities did not include any expenditure plans for youth work, with Loughton stating that "discrepancies" are apparent for other youth areas such as substance misuse. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Management/article/1100186/government-will-not-step-protect-youth-services-loughton-admits/

New figures reveal £200m of youth service cuts
UNISON today reveals that a massive £200 million worth of cuts will have been made to youth services by April 2012 - hitting our young people and damaging chances of getting the economy back on track. £137 million* worth of cuts are set to hit vital youth services between April 2011/12. The figure comes on top of the £61.6 million** worth of cuts already made in the year to April 2011. The damage to vital services is worse than predicted, as services are cut completely in some areas. The level of cutbacks outweigh figures by the Confederation of Heads of Young People's, in February, that cuts of more than £100m were planned by March 2012. Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said: "Our figures show the real devastation being wrecked on young people's services across the UK by the Government's cuts - much higher than predicted. £137 million worth of cutbacks this year alone will cause major damage to the future generation, as well as damaging chances of getting the economy back on track. Youth services are being seen as a soft target, with councils making huge cuts, or removing whole services. This includes the loss of projects for rural communities, young mums, young carers, counselling and anti-social behaviour prevention. These challenges are especially hitting young people from low income families. Read more at Unison:
http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2503

Loughton considers league tables for youth services
League tables for youth services could be introduced to help decide when government intervention is necessary, children's minister Tim Loughton has said. Speaking at the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Service (CHYPS) annual convention in Birmingham today (8 November), Loughton said he did not want to outline specific examples of when he believes intervention should occur. Instead he suggested that performance tables could be created similar to those monitoring the outcomes of children in care. "It really concentrates people's minds on why some areas are doing well and others are not," he said. "If you can produce some sort of criteria for where young people's services are scored by young people themselves, I am all for seeing where they are doing well and asking questions where they are really not doing well." Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1103043/loughton-considers-league-tables-youth-services/

Young people fear safeguards against cyber-bullying are not enough
Nearly half of young people believe current initiatives to tackle cyber-bullying are insufficient, research from the Diana Award has found. The poll of 1,512 young people across England found that 78 per cent of young people fear cyber-bullying will continue to rise with four in 10 young people reporting to have been affected by phenomenon. Commissioned by the Diana Award, with the support of the Children's Research Centre at the Open University, the survey also found that abusive emails and text messages were the most prominent forms of cyber-bullying, while older teenagers were at greater risk of more aggressive behaviour, including incidences of death threats, computer viruses and explicit images. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1103587/young-people-fear-safeguards-against-cyber-bullying-not-enough/

Learning and Skills Network goes into administration
Education charity's income, which came mainly from government contracts, fell sharply in the past two years. An education charity that employs 117 staff has gone into administration. The Learning and Skills Network, which had annual income of £45m as recently as 2006/07, relied heavily on government contracts for its income. The organisation, which was established as a charity in 2006, provides management and leadership training across the public and private sectors. It also ran workforce development programmes on behalf of various government departments and agencies, including the Department for Education. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has been appointed joint administrators, the network's income had fallen to about £13m in 2010/11. Read more Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/1102735/Learning-Skills-Network-goes-administration/3DE16DFBC4809E3F5D6204C22DC5CA1D/?DCMP=EMC-CONDailyBulletin

Loughton blames 'big personalities' for lack of co-operation in youth sector
Children's minister Tim Loughton has said charities serving children and families must improve co-ordination and stamp out duplication to strengthen the sector and improve services for children and young people. Speaking at the annual conference of the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, Loughton said the youth sector needed to improve the dissemination of best practice and ensure projects are not launched unless they meet the needs and wants of young people. He argued that one of the obstacles to encouraging organisations to work closer together and share best practice is "big personalities" within the sector. "There are an awful lot of prima donnas in the youth sector," he said. "There are now 73,000 charities in this country dealing with children and families. That is unsustainable, so we have got to have some co-ordination and some consolidation within the sector so we have some stronger voices who are speaking for more people across the sector, we have started to see that." Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1102274/loughton-blames-big-personalities-lack-co-operation-youth-sector/?DCMP=EMC-CONYouth%20Work%20News

Poll reveals adults' negative attitudes to young people
Nearly half of adults questioned by charity Barnardo's believe children today are beginning to behave like animals. An ICM poll of more than 2,000 people revealed that 44 per cent of respondents agree that children in the UK are becoming feral and 47 per cent think young people are angry, violent and abusive. A quarter also believe that by the age of 10 children who behave badly are beyond help. A further 38 per cent of those polled disagreed that children who get into trouble are in need of help. Barnardo's chief executive Anne Marie Carrie described the results as "depressing". "What hope is there for childhood in the UK today if this is how adults think?" she said. "We seem to have forgotten the fact that most children are well behaved and instead we are unquestionably accepting a stereotype of young people as criminal and revolting. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1102519/poll-reveals-adults-negative-attitudes-young-people/?DCMP=EMC-CONYouth%20Work%20News

Nearly 200,000 babies at risk of harm in the UK
Nearly 200,000 babies in the UK are at risk of serious harm, according to figures released by the NSPCC as it launched its campaign to highlight the vulnerability of children aged under one. The All Babies Count campaign calls on the government to ensure sufficient services are available so families are supported during infancy and pregnancy because babies are eight times more likely to be killed than any other age group in childhood. According to research conducted by the charity, more than 198,000 babies are considered high risk because they are born into homes with mental health problems, domestic violence or drink and drug dependency. Chris Cuthbert, NSPCC head of strategy and development for under-ones, said: "We know from serious case reviews that around half relate to babies under one. We've undertaken some research, which has looked at the prevalence of parental factors such as substance misuse, mental illness and domestic abuse. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1103358/nearly-200000-babies-risk-harm-uk/?DCMP=EMC-CONCYPNow%20Daily

Culture Secretary raises concerns about Health Lottery
The new Health Lottery is facing investigations into both its advertising and general structure, after the Culture Secretary voiced concerns about whether it might erode other charitable income. Jeremy Hunt told the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee that both the National Lottery Commission and the Gambling Commission have been asked to investigate the lottery, which claims to be able to raise £50m for health causes a year.
While the lottery had been given the all-clear by the Gambling Commission before it began operations earlier this month, Hunt said he now has concerns about what impact the lottery might have on small society lotteries. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/fundraising/news/content/10820/gambling_commission_and_asa_to_investigate_healthy_lottery

Commission website will promote umbrella bodies, says Younger
Charity Commission chief executive Sam Younger says the regulator won't compel any charity to become a member of anything, but it will promote various umbrella bodies on its website. Younger says the sector should not be concerned that it expects charities to join an umbrella body. However, he admits that the Commission will "use our website and our contact with trustees to point them to organisations, such as NCVO, that are able to offer advice in areas that fall outside our regulatory remit". Younger announced the news in an opinion piece on NCVO's online member magazine Engage. Opening the article, Younger said he wanted to "set the record straight" on criticisms from the sector around the Commission's new strategic direction. Last month, at the Charity Commission's Annual Public Meeting, Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather said that in light of the significant cuts to the Commission's budget, in the future it would expect charities to become members of umbrella bodies, which could take an advice role. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/10804/commission_website_will_promote_umbrella_bodies_says_younger

Children's and adult services in joint bid to improve support for young carers
Leaders of children's and adult services are being encouraged to work more closely together to ensure young carers are able to enjoy their childhood. In a joint paper, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services lead on carers Graeme Betts and Association of Directors of Children's Services lead on young carers Clair Pyper said continued progress is needed to encourage working with the whole family, to both build resilience with parents and promote the wellbeing of the children. The review comes a year after the two leads met with a group of young carers and pledged to "say more in future about young carers and families affected by enduring parental mental illness and/or substance misuse". The latest paper builds upon the vision set out by the two organisations in 2009: Working Together to Support Young Carers. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1101927/childrens-adult-services-joint-bid-improve-support-young-carers/?DCMP=EMC-CONCYPNow%20Daily

Etherington says charities too often avoid merging until last minute
Chief executive of NCVO Sir Stuart Etherington has said that most charities only decide to merge when there is no other alternative because trustees don't want to confront the fact their charity is in trouble. He also said that charity chief executives "go out of their way to prevent mergers". Sir Stuart was speaking at the NCVO Trustee Conference this week, where he responded to a question from the audience on whether the Charity Commission hindered mergers. He said it had never been his experience that the regulator was a problem; "in fact they go out of their way to assist merger activity", he said. Instead, he laid the blame with charities for stumbling over mergers. Often they only go ahead when there was no other alternative, he said, as trustees don't want to admit their charity is in trouble:
"Then this is not a merger," he said, "but a takeover by an organisation which is much stronger. It is rare for organisations of a similar strength to combine. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/10853/etherington_says_charities_too_often_avoid_merging

Government is not giving the voluntary sector 'proper recognition', says shadow civil society minister
Gareth Thomas says some government departments are failing to collect basic data about the sector. Gareth Thomas, the shadow civil society minister, has questioned whether some government departments are taking the voluntary sector seriously enough. Thomas's comments came after he received answers to a series of parliamentary questions that he tabled last month after succeeding Roberta Blackman-Woods as shadow to Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society. The Harrow West MP told Third Sector the answers showed that some departments were failing to capture basic data about the voluntary sector. He referred to three answers in particular. Find out what the three answers were at:
http://thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/1101603/Government-not-giving-voluntary-sector-proper-recognition-says-shadow-civil-society-minister/

October 2011

 £11 million to fund new online and telephone family support
Family organisations, including Relate, Netmums and Gingerbread, will receive Government funding to deliver national online and telephone support services, Children's Minister Sarah Teather announced today. The Government is providing up to £11 million to eleven voluntary and community organisations to deliver the support. Specialist organisations including the Family Rights Group, Young Minds and Contact a Family are among those benefiting from the funding. Families will benefit from a range of support including relationship advice, services tailored specifically for fathers, helping single parents get back to work, advice on education issues such as exclusions and information about benefits. . Visit the website to read more:
http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a00199500/11-million-to-fundnew-online-and-telephone-family-support-services

Localism Bill victory for Voluntary and Community Sector
NAVCA is celebrating victory for the voluntary and community sector following the publication of the amended Localism Bill. The amended Bill has been published following the House of Lords report stage. Despite intense lobbying by the Countryside Landowners Association (CLA) to reduce the length of time that charities would be able to exercise their 'Right to Buy', the government has agreed with NAVCA that a six months period is the minimum period needed to make the Assets of Community Value opportunity work.
The Localism Bill will give charities and community groups the right to get local councils to list properties as "Assets of Community Value". This aims to prevent the heart being ripped from communities by buildings being closed or sold. The CLA campaigned for the moratorium period to be reduced to three months. Read more and sign up for NAVCA's campaign at:
http://www.navca.org.uk/news/view-article/localism-bill-victory

BIG announces £50m of funding to help sector battle cuts
The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) will open £50m of investment to the voluntary and community sector in England this week to help organisations cope with funding cuts.
Some £17m of the funding will provide support to an additional 650 charitable and community projects, while the remaining £33m will help existing projects within BIG's portfolio. The funding available to new projects will be distributed through BIG's current Reaching Communities and Awards for All programmes. Reaching Communities currently provides grants of between £10,000 to £500,000 for new or existing community projects helping those in the most need. Awards for All offers small grants of between £300 and £10,000 to community projects Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/fundraising/news/content/10785/big_announces_50m_of_funding_to_help_sector_battle_cuts
or read article at Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/channels/Fundraising/Article/1100576/Big-Lottery-Fund-offer-extra-50m-voluntary-organisations/

Young people with autism 'need legal right to educational support'
Young people with autism have described their desire to learn the skills to help them achieve independence later in life, Ambitious About Autism has reported. The charity has warned that unless young disabled people have a legal right to educational support up to the age of 25, many will be unable to gain the skills needed for their future and will become a subsequent financial burden to adult social services. An online survey of 196 staff in post-16 education and interviews with 51 professionals, 20 learners and 18 parents of young people with autism, revealed a significant gap in further education provision for young people with autism. Parents told the researchers that it is not generally their choice to keep young people with autism at home instead of in formal learning, describing a lack of alternative options. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Education/article/1098727/young-people-autism-need-legal-right-educational-support/?DCMP=EMC-CONCYPNow%20Daily

Initiative provides opportunity for young people to shape local youth services
Young people are to be given the chance to help shape and run youth services in their area as part of a programme funded by the Department for Education (DfE). The Young People Friendly Neighbourhoods project - coordinated by Groundwork UK in partnership with Sanctuary Housing, FPM and Youth Access - will run in 20 areas across England for 11- to 19-year-olds. Between now and March 2013, it aims to help up to 1,700 young people design and deliver tailored activities that respond to the needs and priorities of their community. It is running in 20 housing estates across England where youth nuisance and antisocial behaviour have been identified as significant problems. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1098719/initiative-provides-opportunity-young-people-shape-local-youth-services/?DCMP=EMC-CONYouth%20Work%20News

Unite blasts youth policy proposals
The government has been accused of ignoring sector concerns over youth services just weeks before it is due to publish a youth policy statement. Positive for Youth, a policy statement on services for young people, is expected to outline the government's vision that whatever a child's background or circumstances, they should be able to fulfill their potential and get a good job. But trade union Unite has launched a blistering attack on the consultation, which ended last month, with its response to the formal process criticising the government for "pulling apart the modern youth service". It states that years of professional expertise are being destroyed and that the government has failed to use its statutory powers to intervene while several local authorities have completely abandoned their youth service. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1098578/unite-blasts-youth-policy-proposals/?DCMP=EMC-CONYouth%20Work%20News 

Bespoke support scheme launched to help curb rise in Neet young people
An initiative providing support to young people most at risk of falling out of education, employment or training has been launched by the Private Equity Foundation. Working in the London boroughs of Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets, allocated "progression coaches" will provide bespoke support within schools for teenagers as part of the ThinkForward programme. Under the initiative - being delivered alongside employment charity Tomorrow's People, Ernst & Young, local authorities and local schools - sustained support will be available for young people from the age of 14 through to 19. Each young person will go through an assessment and a personal action plan to help them access and utilise other local initiatives already available for them. Read more at CYO Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1098515/bespoke-support-scheme-launched-help-curb-rise-neet-young-people/?DCMP=EMC-CONYouth%20Work%20News

Charity sub-contractors warn of flaws in Work Programme
The Work Programme is at risk of ‘systemic failure' unless some significant issues are addressed, a group of over 100 charity sub-contractors is warning, says NCVO. Members of the special interest group, which is run by NCVO, are voicing concerns that the new welfare-to-work initiative in its current form could leave many voluntary sector providers feeling squeezed out and financially vulnerable. In a paper which has been sent to Employment Minister Chris Grayling, the group calls on the government to ensure that sector is involved fairly within the programme. Key concerns centre around the effectiveness of the Merlin Standard, a code of conduct for ensuring that sub-contractors are treated fairly by their prime contractor partners. The group has raised concerns that the current timescale for prime contractors to obtain Merlin accreditation within one year of starting Work Programme contracts is too long, leaving voluntary sector providers vulnerable to mistreatment and financial risk in the meantime. Read more at NCVO where, if your organisation is a sub-contractor in the Work Programme, you can join their special interest group to share your experiences, gain information and advice, and help them feed your concerns to Government.
You will also be able to download the paper and find out more about NCVO's wider work on employment, skills and training services in England.
http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/news/civil-society/charity-sub-contractors-warn-flaws-work-programme

Extra £300m announced to help low-income families with childcare
The minimum working hours limit for childcare support will be scrapped from 2013, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has announced. So parents who work fewer than 16 hours a week and are low-paid will get extra support. It will work out at up to £175 a week for one child and £300 for two or more. The government has set aside £300m which it said would help around 80,000 families. However, charities such as the Child Poverty Action Group and Save the Children have said the government needed to do even more to make childcare affordable, in particular covering 80 per cent of childcare costs as soon as possible. Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC: "This is an additional group of people who will receive childcare and who did not get childcare under the last government's plans. The childcare support will be a huge bonus to them. Read more at Sustainable Gov:
http://www.sustainablegov.co.uk/central-government/procurement-finance/300m-extra-childcare-support-for-low-income-families

Hurd publishes open letter to explain strategy behind Big Society
Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has written an open letter to the sector that seeks to explain the "strategic framework" underpinning the government's recent policy initiatives. In it, he states that the government believes its efforts to grow giving and social investment will enable charities and social enterprises to "access significantly more resource". The letter, which mentions the "Big Society vision" as soon as the second paragraph, is effectively a reiteration of all the actions taken by the government recently to pursue the agenda and expands on the thinking behind them. These include increasing giving, cutting red tape, National Citizen Service and Community Organisers and Community First. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/10686/hurd_publishes_open_letter_to_explain_strategy_behind_big_society
or download the letter from:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/docs/nick_hurd_open_letter.pdf

Major expansion of National Citizen Service for 16-year-olds
The Prime Minister has announced that National Citizen Service (NCS) will be tripled in size to offer 90,000 places by 2014. Following the first pilot this summer, up to 30,000 places will be offered in 2012 and 90,000 by 2014. Evaluation of this year's pilot is currently underway and the results will inform the future model for NCS.
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/major-expansion-national-citizen-service-16-year-olds

Lords urged to make children's health a priority

A group of 16 organisations has called on peers to ensure the government is clear on how the health reforms will deliver improvements for children and young people as the Health and Social Care Bill is debated in the House of Lords. Organisations that promote the health and wellbeing of children, including the National Children's Bureau (NCB) and the Council for Disabled Children, have come together to exert pressure on the government to improve health services for children and young people, particularly those with complex needs. In a joint statement, the group has urged Lords to ensure the bill makes clear that the NHS Commissioning Board takes a lead role in championing the specific needs of children and young people. Read more at CYPNow:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Health/article/1097902/Lords-urged-childrens-health-priority/

Child poverty figures predicted to rise by more than half a million by 2013
Child poverty is set to rise steadily over the next decade, while a further 600,000 children are expected to be living in absolute poverty by 2013. According to the latest forecast from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), absolute and relative child poverty will stand at 23 and 24 per cent respectively by the financial year 2020/21 - significantly more than the targets of five and 10 per cent, set out in the Child Poverty Act last year. Meanwhile, the median income of families in the UK is predicted to fall by seven per cent between 2009/10 and 2012/13. This would equate to the largest three-year fall in income for 35 years. An individual is considered to be in relative poverty if they live in a household whose income is below 60 per cent of the median in that year and in absolute poverty if they live in a household whose real-terms income is below 60 per cent of the median for 2010/11 - as set out in the Child Poverty Act. The IFS research forecasts poverty for every year between 2010/11 and 2015/16, and for 2020/21, while accounting for the government's tax and benefit policies, including universal credit. Read more at CYPNow:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1097898/Child-poverty-figures-predicted-rise-half-million-2013/

Ministers support charity rating guide
A website or guide that rates charities could be a useful addition to the sector, ministers said yesterday. When the suggestion for a Which? Guide to Charity was mooted by an audience member at yesterday's Conservative Party Conference fringe event on how to increase giving by the wealthy, Ed Vaizey MP nodded in agreement, adding that a ratings system should also be included. The minister for culture, communications and creative industries said: "Yes, a Which?-style guide could be helpful, possibly even one that goes a step further and provides a star rating system, like the Zagat guide." Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/fundraising/news/content/10623/ministers_support_charity_rating_guide

New government unit to co-ordinate help for troubled families
A dedicated family unit is to be set up to co-ordinate intensive support for troubled families across central government departments, CYP Now has learned. The unit is a key part of David Cameron's bid to transform the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families by 2015. At present, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Work and Pensions all fund various schemes to support families with multiple needs, as do local authorities and charities across the country. A DCLG spokesman confirmed the unit will be housed in the department. It will synchronise existing work and bring together central government funding streams to fund such initiatives. Christine Davies, chief executive of the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services, said the unit has the potential to end the fragmented way in which family intervention work has been carried out to date. "Rather than having a scattergun approach and a series of parallel initiatives, which is a real danger, particularly post-riots, we need to be absolutely clear about what makes a difference." Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/go/news/article/1096544/new-government-unit-co-ordinate-help-troubled-families/

Narey recommends national agency to boost adoption rate
Responsibility for adoptions should be transferred to a national agency if the number and speed at which they take place does not significantly improve, the new ministerial adviser has recommended. Former chief executive of Barnardo's Martin Narey, who has been appointed as the government's adoption tsar, set out recommendations to increase the number of adoptions that currently take place in England. In his report commissioned by The Times newspaper, Narey said government should seriously consider establishing a national adoption agency that takes over responsibility from local authorities, unless there is a step change in the numbers of children adopted and the speed at which those adoptions take place. Narey also said that information should be published on the number of adoptions finalised and the time taken to complete those adoptions that allows for comparison between local authorities. "I believe passionately that we can and should significantly increase the number of adoptions," Narey said. "When we leave children in homes where neglect and abuse are the norm we destroy any chance of them developing the stability and confidence that grows out of being brought up in the stability of a loving home. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1078511/narey-recommends-national-agency-boostadoption-rate/?DCMP=EMC-CONInCare

The Right Year for Children
From Participation Works)
A coalition of children and young people's charities, voluntary organisations and statutory bodies is planning for a year of action to seek greater recognition of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and to press for its systematic use and implementation across all areas of children's lives. The planning for The Right Year for Children starts with a nation-wide children's rights logo competition for children and young people to create a universal logo to mark the 20th anniversary this year of the UK Government ratifying the UNCRC on 16th December. Organisations working with children and young people, including Government and local councils, will be encouraged to use the logo as part of their work and commitment to promote and protect children's rights. To find out how your group or organisation may become a supporter or partner of The Right Year for Children, please email Denise Malcolm at the Office of Children's Commissioner
Find out more about the Convention on the Rights of the Child here.
Economic Downturn Hits Charity Workforce
Employment in the voluntary sector has fallen by 5% over the past 12 months according to the latest Labour Force Survey. The figures for the second quarter of 2011 show that the voluntary sector employs 768,000 people, a fall of around 38,000 employees since the second quarter of 2010. These latest findings signify that the voluntary sector workforce has now experienced two consecutive quarters of decline in addition to the ‘flatline' witnessed towards the end of 2010. Early indications also suggest a change in working patterns and pay within the sector. The number of part-time employees in the voluntary sector has increased over the past three months, with an additional 13,000 people working part-time. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings in the voluntary sector have fallen over the previous quarter to £10.14 per hour. Read more at Skills Third Sector:
http://www.skills-thirdsector.org.uk/news_media/news/economic_downturn_hits_charity_workforce/

Charity Forecast Survey
With fears over the economy dominating the headlines, a new survey suggests that confidence levels in the voluntary sector's financial future are at an all-time low.
The Charity Forecast Survey, published today (28 September 2011) by NCVO, shows that 98 per cent of charity leaders expect economic conditions within the sector to be negative over the next 12 months. This is the bleakest outlook in the survey's three year history, with confidence levels lower than they were at the height of the recession. Respondents also demonstrated dwindling confidence in their organisation's general situation and finances and the UK economy as a whole. Many voiced concerns about the impact of spending cuts on their ability to support vulnerable beneficiaries, and predicted that the worst is yet to come. One respondent claimed that fears of a double-dip recession and cuts in funding and commissioning are combining to make this ‘the most challenging time for income generation in the last 30 years.' Read more at NCVO:
http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/news/civil-society/charity-leaders-confidence-lower-ever

Cut and dried? What's the real impact of the government cuts to the UK voluntary and community sector?
There's been a lot of talk about the impact of the cuts on the voluntary sector in the press recently. But are we really all lambs to the slaughter? As we all return to work after the summer holidays and survey the future, Dr Catherine Walker, DSC's Head of STEAM, asks: Does the evidence about cuts back up all the scary rhetoric? We hear constantly that the double knock of the continuing recession plus government cuts have hit many charities hard, but it's very difficult to get an accurate picture of exactly what is going on across the sector as a whole. Read the full article at Directory of Social Change:
http://www.dsc.org.uk/PolicyandResearch/News/CutanddriedWhatstherealimpactofthegovernmentcutstotheUKvoluntaryandcommunitysector?dm_i=6S7,J8LC,29I7I3,1KDNJ,1

New government unit to co-ordinate help for troubled families
A dedicated family unit is to be set up to co-ordinate intensive support for troubled families across central government departments, CYP Now has learned. The unit is a key part of David Cameron's bid to transform the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families by 2015. At present, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Work and Pensions all fund various schemes to support families with multiple needs, as do local authorities and charities across the country. A DCLG spokesman confirmed the unit will be housed in the department. It will synchronise existing work and bring together central government funding streams to fund such initiatives. Christine Davies, chief executive of the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services, said the unit has the potential to end the fragmented way in which family intervention work has been carried out to date. "Rather than having a scattergun approach and a series of parallel initiatives, which is a real danger, particularly post-riots, we need to be absolutely clear about what makes a difference," she said. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1096544/new-government-unit-co-ordinate-help-troubled-families/

Loughton expresses fears over impact of welfare reforms on young carers
Children's minister Tim Loughton has added his weight to children's sector fears that government welfare reforms will cut support for young carers. The Welfare Reform Bill proposes replacing the severe and enhanced disability premiums that currently go to disabled parents with its universal credit scheme in 2013. But in a letter to welfare reform minister Lord Freud, which has been leaked to The Guardian, Loughton said the move would leave young carers out of pocket and undermine government policy to ensure they are effectively supported and recognised. He warned Lord Freud that by cutting financial support to young carers and their parents this could lead to greater costs for health and children's services. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Social_Care/article/1096883/loughton-expresses-fears-impact-welfare-reforms-young-carers/

Being prepared for e-learning
Barnardo's won the first Charity Learning Awards recently. The Guardian's Voluntary Sector Network has an article from Lisa Johnson of Barnardo's on 'How to prepare for the e-learning journey', giving five top tips on how to engage staff with the virtual classroom. Visit the website to read her article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2011/sep/28/prepare-elearning-journey

September 2011

Charity Commission expects all charities to join an umbrella body
The Charity Commission will expect all charities to become part of a voluntary sector umbrella body, and has mooted highlighting on the Commission website the memberships that charities hold. Chair of the Charity Commission Dame Suzi Leather made the announcement at the Commission's Annual Public meeting yesterday, which discussed the theme 'Charities and self-regulation - how far can it go?' Dame Suzi said going forward the Charity Commission was expecting the charity sector to become more self-reliant, with trustees taking more decisions without input from the Commission. She said that as part of this strategy the Commission would work to increase the profile of umbrella bodies, who could take on the advice role that the Commission currently plays: "There have been discussions about an umbrella support coalition of sector groups taking on an advice function that feeds off Charity Commission guidance. Then, we could deal with a limited number of umbrellas rather than 180,000 charities." She said all charities would be expected to be a member of an umbrella body. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/finance/news/content/10533/charity_commission_expects_all_charities_to_become_part_of_an_umbrella_body

Umbrella bodies critical about taking Charity Commission advice role
Navca has slammed the Charity Commission's plans to roll back its advice function and expect charities to instead rely on umbrella bodies for advice, while other umbrella charities have also voiced concerns about the move. Last week, the Charity Commission, which is facing a cut to its budget by a third, announced that it would expect charities to join an umbrella body and go to them for advice, instead of the Charity Commission. Announcing the move, chief executive of the Commission Sam Younger said it could not give umbrella bodies financial support, but could increase their income by encouraging membership. Navca, which is an umbrella organisation for local charities, has severely criticised the move. Its policy and communications director Neil Cleeveley told civilsociety.co.uk that the Charity Commission idea was crazy: "Navca members already provide substantial advice and guidance to local charities and are well placed to expand this support. But the Charity Commission is living in cloud cuckoo land if they think that local umbrella bodies can take on further work for free or that all local charities can afford to pay for all the advice and support they need," he said. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/10542/umbrella_bodies_voice_concern_about_taking_charity_commission_advice_role

Will the female charity leaders PLEASE stand up?
If female leaders are too modest to identify themselves how will we ever get more women into top jobs? Celina Ribeiro says top women in charities need to stand up, literally. It's not uncommon in the fair pages of Civil Society's website and publications for us to report on the disappointing number of women in charity leadership roles. The stories are so regular they threaten to (and in some dark, musty quarters probably do) induce eye-rolling. About half of the top directors of fundraising at the 100 biggest fundraising charities are women. At 27 of the top 100 charities, women account for less than 25 per cent of the boards. Only 26 of the 100 largest charities have a female chief executive. And so on, and so forth, and so on once again. Patriarchy, what a bitch, eh? Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/fundraising/blogs/content/10493/will_the_female_charity_leaders_please_stand_up

Cuts 'hitting advice and young people's services hardest'
Karl Wilding of the NCVO tells Commons meeting of concern about funding of advice and children's charities. Advice charities and charities running services for children and young people face the greatest threats from public spending cuts, Karl Wilding, head of policy and research at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations', said yesterday. At a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on civil society and volunteering at the House of Commons, Wilding was asked whether young people's services had been disproportionately hit by cuts in public spending. "The two areas we are most worried about are services for children and young people, and advice services," he said. The meeting had been organised to discuss the voluntary sector's response to the riots that took place this summer. Tunde Banjoko, chief executive of the charity Local Employment Access Projects, warned: "We need to look at the background and the mindsets of the people who became involved in the riots. Otherwise, when circumstances align themselves, it will happen again. "A lack of attachment to society comes from poor job prospects and low educational attainment. These are things that can be addressed. There needs to be a feeling that society cares for people." Read more at Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1091847/Cuts-hitting-advice-young-peoples-services-hardest/

Lib Dem Conference 2011: Youth cuts 'are disempowering young people'
Young people have been disempowered by the speed and "bad management" of cuts to local area budgets, a CYP Now panel debate has heard. The event, chaired by CYP Now editor Ravi Chandiramani at the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham, heard serious concerns about the lack of involvement of young people in local decision-making because of the speed at which councils had to implement savings. The demise of the youth opportunity and youth capital funds were also identified as areas that have particularly damaged young people's trust in the decision-making process. Chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People's Service David Wright told delegates that increasing young people's participation and then suddenly taking it away has damaged trust among young people. "We saw 10 years of increasing young people's engagement in the political and democratic process and actually starting to make some real difference," he said. "We are seeing some dividends. But what pulled everyone up short, was in the rush to make changes the youth opportunity funds and youth capital funds got swept away because we had to make savings. The principles got lost, with young people not being involved in that decision making." Read more at CYO Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1094707/lib-dem-conference-2011-youth-cuts-are-disempowering-young-people/?DCMP=EMC-CONYouth%20Work%20News

Big Society will fail, say committee MPs
The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) has warned that the Big Society agenda will fail as civil servants do not have the skills to implement it, and there is a reluctance to do the reforms. PASC MPs make the warning in the report Change in government: the agenda for leadership which says the Big Society policy needs "a more transparent and flexible civil service with a new role of commissioning public services from charities, social enterprises, mutuals and private companies". However, the PASC, which has been taking evidence on the Big Society over the past year, finds Whitehall lacks these skills and little effort had been made to equip civil servants with them. The report also says government has "failed to recognise the scale of reform required" and says as a result the Big Society agenda will fail. The PASC says it is essential that the Cabinet Office take leadership of the reforms and coordinate the efforts in individual departments and across Whitehall as a whole. "The scale of the challenges faced by the civil service calls for the establishment of a world class centre of Government, headed by someone with the authority to insist on delivery across Whitehall," says the report. Read more at Civil Society:
http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/10539/big_society_will_fail_says_committee_mps

Labour treated the sector as 'third arm of the state', MP tells conference fringe
Lisa Nandy says charities should maintain their independence from government and be able to campaign against policies where necessary. The Labour MP Lisa Nandy has criticised the previous Labour government for treating the voluntary sector as a "third arm of the state". Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference today, organised by the umbrella bodies Acevo and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Nandy said she had worked for the charities Centrepoint and the Children's Society before being elected as MP for Wigan in May 2010. "The Labour government treated the third sector like a third arm of the state and I was troubled by that," she said. "I thought it was problematic. Delivering government services means you have to agree with the government about how those services should be run." Nandy said charities' biggest asset was their legitimacy in the eyes of the public. "The government loves charities because of that legitimacy, and charities must think carefully before they give it away," she said. Read more at Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Channels/Policy/Article/1095240/Labour-treated-sector-third-arm-state-MP-tells-conference-fringe/

 Spirals Parent Programme
You can read and example of effective local practice in Wakefield on the C4EO website. It is the Spirals Parent Programme which is about training for parents and carers of young children with autistic spectrum disorders. The Spirals Parent Programme aims to meet the needs of parents and carers who have children with social communication and interaction needs, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (Condition) and Asperger's Syndrome, and are between the ages of 3 and 8 years old.
http://www.c4eo.org.uk/themes/general/vlpdetails.aspx?lpeid=173&dm_i=7SL,JQJJ,2G7RX0,1LS1H,1

Commissioning is damaging the voluntary sector, says NCIA founder
Andy Benson of the National Coalition for Independent Action tells NCVO conference the commissioning of public services is threatening the independence of the sector. Increased commissioning by public bodies is damaging the voluntary sector, according to Andy Benson, founder of the National Coalition for Independent Action. Benson told delegates at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations' Research Conference in London yesterday that "commissioning is damaging to the principles and practices of voluntary action". He said the process was threatening the independence of the sector because, even if organisations did not agree with government cuts or the commissioning of services, they were unlikely to speak out for fear of ruining their relationships with funders. "The culture of fear among many voluntary organisations is now apparent and evident," he said. Read more at Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/1090082/Commissioning-damaging-voluntary-sector-says-NCIA-founder/50C09AD4A18DCB3AC3E688F087166067/?DCMP=EMC-CONDailyBulletin

Responses to the riots
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations is to produce a report giving a voluntary sector view on why the recent riots in England happened and recommendations for avoiding a repetition. This follows from an invitation-only discussion event in London organised by NCVO attended by Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society. There is also a website "for the sector to come together and feedback their experiences in one place to ensure that the fullest picture of the current situation is presented and debated", at
http://reviewrenew.posterous.com/

There is also a Third Sector news item: The National Council for Voluntary Organisations will produce a report containing the voluntary sector's view of why the recent riots in England happened and its recommendations for avoiding a repetition. Read more at Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1091988/Charity-leaders-publish-recommendations-response-riots/

The Family champion creator defends scheme
Prime Minister David Cameron's goal to transform the lives of England's 120,000 most troubled families by 2015 will require the commitment of thousands of volunteers, as critics say the programme will not reach those most in need. The "family champions" initiative has been backed strongly by the government in the wake of last month's riots. Its architect Emma Harrison, who founded welfare to work provider A4E, told CYP Now that the so-called Working Families Everywhere programme hinges on the idea that family champions will help the hardest to reach families back into work. Read more at CYPNow:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Joint_working/article/1089113/family-champion-creator-defends-scheme/ 

MPs launch online child safety inquiry
A parliamentary inquiry into child safety on the internet has been launched by a group of 60 MPs. Parents, child protection and internet experts, and managers of UK internet service providers (ISPs) are being invited to exchange opinions on the best way to protect children from online pornography. The inquiry will include two evidence sessions at the House of Commons on 8 September and 18 October. It is hoped the process will assess the extent to which children access inappropriate content online and the harm it may cause, as well as review measures ISPs can take to protect them. A report will be given to communications minister Ed Vaizey in November. He said: "The internet is a powerful tool for education and entertainment but there is material online that is not suitable for children. I look forward to receiving the inquiry's report and seeing their conclusions." Among the MPs who commissioned the report is Devizes MP Claire Perry, who also supports the Block Porn campaign, aiming to filter content at the network level and require adults to register to their ISPs to unblock pornographic websites. She said: "Parents are understandably worried about the ease with which their children can view pornographic content on the internet and this inquiry will provide the ideal platform for all interested parties to discuss how best we can protect our children online." (CYP Now)
The vital building blocks of civil society
The voluntary sector has an important part to play in supporting society's public infrastructure and in modernising essential back-office services. In seeking to build the civil society of the future, getting the right mechanisms in place to provide advice, support and guidance and to share best practice is essential. Infrastructure organisations form the building blocks of this support - from local to international level - but despite many years of investment and commitment, there is considerable scope for improvement. The voluntary and community sector exists to have a positive impact on the communities it serves. The right support can bring organisations together and share learning to allow them to have a greater impact. Where provision is incomplete or not operating at its potential, there is a danger that it is not providing civil society, and wider communities, with the support they urgently need at this challenging time. A long-term and very possibly permanent reduction in the funding of civil society by the state is adding to that challenge and the sector must be supported to manage the transition. The issues we face are not, however, only financial: Infrastructure must rise to the challenge of helping the sector to build a sustainable, effective, accessible and well-governed future. This will require a role for infrastructure in building the right mix of skills and capabilities across the whole sector - not only in terms of our community contribution that we are rightly proud of, but in also in many other areas. These will include improving and developing new skills in legal, technological, governance, financial and other areas. Read more at Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2011/jul/29/vital-building-blocks-civil-society

Lessons from winding up a charity
(Source - VolResource)
The process of winding up a small charity is being documented online by its executive director on the NCVO discussion pages. Part 1 is at
http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/networking-discussions/blogs/14298/11/08/22/winding-fabulously-part-1-which-i-cannot-sleep-we-make-d
and one of the comments mentions Mission Accomplished, which has notes and resources from the experience of closing down the Anglo-German Foundation,
http://www.missionaccomplished.org.uk

Office for Civil Society to trial £40m social impact bond scheme to support 'problem families'
Nick Hurd announces four local authorities will run pilots, offering contracts to charities and social enterprises to tackle 'the pointless cycle of crime and deprivation'. The Office for Civil Society is to ask private and charitable investors to purchase social impact bonds worth up to £40m that will fund new schemes to support "problem families". Nick Hurd, the Minister for Civil Society, announced today that Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, Birmingham and Leicestershire local authorities had been chosen to pilot schemes. "We must not be afraid to do things differently to end the pointless cycle of crime and deprivation which wrecks communities and drains state services," said Hurd. "Social impact bonds could open serious resources to tackle social problems in new and innovative ways." Each council will devise a contract that specifies targets for families, which might include an increase in school attendance, a fall in criminal behaviour or a reduction in drug or alcohol abuse.
Charities and social enterprises will then bid for the contracts and find private and social investors to give financial backing. Read more at Third Sector:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/rss/article/1087083/Office-Civil-Society-trial-40m-social-impact-bond-scheme-support-problem-families/

 August 2011

Young people 'need support to be better parents'
Better support to help young people learn and develop parenting skills must be central to government efforts to improve the lives of the most troubled families, Parenting UK has claimed. Prime Minister David Cameron said that parenting would be at the centre of the "fight back" following the riots in England, in a speech last week. While the parenting charity welcomed the statement it warned that unless parenting is viewed as a skill that can be nurtured and developed little will change. Parenting UK chief executive Pamela Park said: "The causes of the recent unrest in England are complex and multi-faceted. However, the quality of parenting is a significant part of the jigsaw." Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Joint_working/article/1086037/young-people-need-support-better-parents/?DCMP=EMC-CONInPractice

Councils to keep most youth services in-house
Local authorities plan to continue to deliver the vast majority of their services for young people in-house while only one in three is considering alternative funding models, despite the government's desire for reform, a CYP Now investigation has found. Data obtained through freedom of information requests from 90 out of 152 local authorities in England reveals that councils on average only currently commission out 27 per cent of their combined information, advice and guidance, targeted youth support, youth participation and open access and detached youth work to external providers, with the remaining 73 per cent delivered in-house. By 2012/13, local authorities anticipate that the percentage of services commissioned out will increase marginally to around 32 per cent, with 68 per cent delivered in-house. Information, advice and guidance is the service most likely to be commissioned out, with almost half of these services handed over to external providers. By contrast, only 20 per cent of local authority targeted youth support programmes and 25 per cent of open access and detached youth work programmes are currently handed over to external providers. However, local authorities do anticipate that 37 per cent of their open access and detached youth work will be provided externally in 2012/13, while targeted programmes will remain largely static, nudging up next year to only 21 per cent. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1085756/councils-keep-youth-services-in-house/?DCMP=EMC-CONInPractice

Neet figure rises to record level
A record rise in the number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) has been revealed. According to latest government statistics, there was a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent in the number of 19- to 24-year-olds who are Neet.
From April to June this year there were 794,000 in this category, up 119,000 on the same quarter the previous year. This is the largest rise since 2000 when the figures were first compiled. The figures also show there were 979,000 16- to 24-year-olds classified as Neet from April to June this year, 54,0000 more than the previous three months and 109,000 more than the same quarter in 2010. Read more at CYP Now:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/Youth_Work/article/1086723/neet-figure-rises-record-level/?DCMP=EMC-CONCYPNow%20Daily

Children seek right to have their own voices heard in family court
Children believe they should be allowed to speak for themselves in family court proceedings if their views will be better represented than adults interpreting their feelings, the children's rights director has found. In his latest report into children's views of the family justice system, Roger Morgan invited children to two consultation days in Leicester. During the first day 44 children took part in voting sessions while on the second 25 children were involved in six discussion groups. Three of the discussion groups said it is important that a child or young person should be able to speak for themselves in court if they want and should be supported to do so through resources such as video links. Another group said they had experienced adults misinterpreting their views, not listening properly and putting words in their mouths. The report said: "One young person said that they had wanted to go to court but were not allowed to go to have their say about what they wanted for their future life; they were told that going to court would be too traumatic for them. Read more at CYPNow:
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/go/news/article/1084474/children-seek-right-own-voices-heard-family-court/