As we usher in 2013, it promises to be a tough year for many people as the full scale of austerity continues to come into effect.  It is within this context that government reforms continue to be announced and implemented at a pace that leaves it difficult to keep up.  

This document intends to highlight some of the major areas that will impact on both the voluntary and community sector, and the individuals that make up the service-users of such organisations.  

Research into the impact of Government policy on Equalities Groups in the North West finds that:
1. Reforms have come at a cost
2. New forms of representation are weak and exclude equalities groups
3. Spending cuts are damaging voluntary sector capacity to deliver big society
4. The new policy framework is liable to reinstate old patterns of exclusion and discrimination
5. Implementation is disproportionately harming the most excluded
6. The capacity of equalities groups to participate and hold public bodies to account is heading towards a point of critical failure.

Links:
► The Full report (.pdf, 800KB) is available below through download link
► A word version is available here (4 MB)
► Executive Summary (.pdf)
► Executive Summary (.word) 

Briefing note for MPs on the potential effect of proposed Cabinet Office changes to the way in which Lottery Fund money is distributed.

Groups are encouraged to pass a copy to their Member of Parliament.

If you wish to adapt our briefing for your own or use aspects of it in order to write to your MP please feel free to use this Word Version: Briefing Note for MPs (Word Version) 

Report profiling five case studies from across the North West which explore how and why particular voluntary sector organisations have become key to tackling the health needs in their areas.

To read more about the implications and learning inspired by this report, go to the following page on this website: The Commissioning Project  

Produced as part of the Equality, Big Society and Localism Research Project commissioned by the NorthWest Infrastructure Partnership (NWIP), this think piece includes an exploration of the implications of The Localism Bill, Big Society, The Local Growth White Paper, and the latest Welfare and Health reform proposals.

Getting the Localism Bill Right (May 2011), VSNW’s guide to the Localism Bill, highlights six key areas of the Bill and proposes six principles that could be used to shape and define “Localism”:

► Principle 1: "That Localism is open and inclusive for all local people"
► Principle 2: "Communities should have a say in making decisions that affect them"
► Principle 3: "Local services should be shaped by and accountable to local communities"
► Principle 4: "That Localism promotes a caring and broad sense of community"
► Principle 5: "That the assets of the state are owned on behalf of our communities"
► Principle 6: "That Localism builds local strength without becoming solely inward-looking"