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Cabinet Office Update for the North West
28 September 2011
Please find below an update from Office for Civil Society which I hope you will find useful. I plan to circulate similar updates on a regular basis. Please feel to share with others. And if you are aware of anyone else in the North West who would like to receive this information, then please send their contact details to this address: Cabinet Office Local Intelligence Update September 2011 provided by Sheila Battersby, Office for Civil Society's Big Society Lead for the North West.
Email: Sheila.Battersby@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk
Sheila Battersby
Office for Civil Society
Arndale House (7th floor)
Arndale Centre
Manchester
M4 3AQ
Cabinet Office Local Intelligence Update September 2011
The Local Intelligence Team Advice Report
Personal thanks to all those advice agencies across the region that gave up their time for the Local Intelligence Team’s report which provided a snapshot of the state of the sector.
The Government acknowledges the important work done by not-for-profit advice agencies, and recognises the need to ensure that the public is able to access quality advice in the future. The Government is currently considering this issue on a cross-departmental basis, and is grateful to the sector for its contribution to this work so far.
We have already announced that we will provide up to £20 million in this financial year to help ensure the public has access to efficient and effective advice services. We will announce more detail in due course.
Transforming Local Infrastructure Fund
An event was held in Leeds on 16 September for the lead organizations from each top tier local authority area. There were technical queries about state aid. The best source of information can be found on the “Related links” section of the Department of Business’ website - http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/europe/state-aid/advice-on-state-aid
Innovation in Giving Fund
OCS launched the Innovation in Giving Fund, announced in the Giving White Paper in May this year, on 7 September. The Cabinet Office website has our press release, and full details on applying to the fund can be found on Nesta’s website, as our delivery partner for the fund.
The £10m fund will award grants of between £50k-£150k to the most promising and innovative ideas that have the potential to deliver a significant increase in the giving and exchange of time, assets, skills, resources and money. There are two basic strands:
- Game changers: ideas with the potential to be scaled-up and have impact at a national scale
- Local platforms: ideas which are more suited to being replicated at a local level
The first round of applications is open until 14 October.
Social Action Fund – Launch Imminent
The Social Investment Business is our delivery partner for this £20+m fund, which will support established models of social action that can be scaled up and boost levels of volunteering or charitable giving.
Strong preference will be given to large scale projects which cover a region or multiple regions and for projects with match funding. Further information is available on SIB’s website www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org/. We will be working with SIB over the coming weeks to get the fund up and running and open for applications as soon as possible.
The Community Action Against Crime: Innovation fund
This fund will encourage effective partnerships to tackle crime. It will encourage voluntary and community groups to work with their community safety partnership to tackle local crime problems, including through co-design and co-delivery of initiatives to cut crime. Applications from grassroots community activists who are not traditional recipients of government grants are encouraged. Funding is provided by the Home Office and he Community Development Foundation (CDF) will deliver the fund.
You can find details at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/partnerships/innovation-fund , www.cdf.org.uk and www.fundingcentral.org.uk.
2011 Compact Awards- Nominations now open
The Compact is the agreement between government and the voluntary and community sector, which sets out key principles and establishes a way of working that improves their relationship for mutual advantage.
The Awards will highlight and reward outstanding examples of partnership work between voluntary and community organisations and the statutory sector.
The Awards provide an opportunity to recognise commitment to Compact principles and achievement as a result of implementing Compact-working. It’s also a chance to share experiences of working with the Compact and examples of best practice around delivering better partnership working.
The Awards provide an opportunity to recognise commitment to Compact principles and achievement as a result of implementing Compact-working. It’s also a chance to share experiences of working with the Compact and examples of best practice around delivering better partnership working.
The Compact Awards 2011 winners will be announced at a ceremony during this year’s Compact Week, which takes place from Monday 7 to Friday 11 November 2011.
Further details and nomination forms for each of the categories can be found on the Compact Voice website.
Community Organisers –Second Tranche
The Community Organisers programme has chosen the next 11 areas to host Community Organisers.
Community Organisers will catalyse community action at a neighbourhood level – ‘igniting the impulse to act’. Community Organisers will be well-trained and committed individuals. Their support will enable people to take action on their own behalf to tackle the issues which are important to them.
Each organiser will be recruited and supported by a local host organisation while they undergo their 12-month training. Hosts are existing organisations based in communities around the country, with the structure and capacity to recruit, host and support the community organisers while they are trained as well as working to make the roles sustainable once they are qualified.
The new host organisations are: Selby Trust in Tottenham, The Centre for Equality & Diversity in Dudley,Saffron Lane Neighbourhood Council in Leicester, Re:generate in Bath and North East Somerset, RISE Community Development Ltd and West Itchen Community Trust in Southampton, ETEC Development Trust in Sunderland, Voluntary Action Melton in Melton Mowbray,Granby Toxteth Development Trust in Liverpool, Somers Town Community Association, London, five development trusts in Bradford , and High Green Development Trust in Sheffield
Some hosts have been selected for the third tranche, which will start in January 2012. These include Foresight in Grimsby, Island Community Action in Portland, Somerset and Gloucestershire Rural Community Council and Commonside Community Development Trust in East Mitcham.
The Community Organisers programme is still inviting applications from potential local infrastructure host organisations. See http://www.cocollaborative.org.uk/ to find out more.
Consultation on proposed new policy direction for BIG
Following the Public Bodies Review Programme in October 2010 it was agreed that policy and sponsor responsibility for the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) would transfer to the Cabinet Office. These responsibilities transferred to Francis Maude with effect from April 2011. In line with the transfer of responsibilities a 12-week consultation has opened today on proposed new policy direction for BIG. The consultation can be accessed via the Cabinet Office website at:
The Big Lottery Fund continues to focus its funding on the themes of Health, Education, the Environment, and charitable purposes as these are laid out in the legislation which founded BIG. The proposed new policy directions being consulted on affirm what BIG has already been achieving with its funding, whilst at the same time providing the scope to have further impact through social investment for example. This consultation provides the opportunity to gauge views on what would be shorter, simplified policy directions for BIG.
The deadline for consultation responses is 18 November 2011.
Open Public Services White Paper
A reminder that the closing date for consultation responses via the Open Public Services web-site is 30 September. See www.openpublicservices.cabinetoffice.gov.uk for more information.
Big Society Awards
The deadline for the next set of nominations is 4 October. Please see www.number10.gov.uk/take-part for further details
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Contact Us
Voluntary Sector North WestSt. Thomas Centre
Ardwick Green North
Manchester
M12 6FZ
Tel: 0161 276 9300
Fax: 0161 276 9301
Email: info@vsnw.org.uk
