VolResource Newsletter 362

11. Examples of reporting public benefit
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The Charity Commission has published a couple of example trustee annual reports which show how trustees can approach the new duty to report on public benefit, in pdf 1.05MB. One of the fictional examples is an advice charity above the audit threshold, the other a youth club below that limit. The Commission's general guidance page is at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publicbenefit/pbreport.asp, and Plaza Publishing news item for some background at http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2373.

12. Welsh health and safety news and events
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The Health and Safety Executive has launched a new bi-lingual website for Wales - http://www.hse.gov.uk/welsh/.

13. Revisions to disciplinary and grievance procedures
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Acas's revised Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures has been approved by the Secretary of State, subject to parliamentary approval. It comes into effect on 6th April 2009, when the statutory dismissal and grievance procedures are abolished. Any tribunal awards can be increased by 25% following an unreasonable failure by an employer to follow the Code. Acas news item http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2114, download the code (pdf 57Kb) from http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=961&p=0, or see Sandy Adirondack's notes at http://www.sandy-a.co.uk/employment.htm#discipline.

14. Mediation at work
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A recent factsheet from personnel professionals' body CIPD (but written by Acas) explains what mediation is, how it works and looks at factors to consider when implementing mediation in an organisation, http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/mediation.htm. This is a summary of a more detailed guide, mentioned in newsletter 355, which is at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1364.

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21. Reviewing Northern Ireland's Voluntary and Community Unit
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Northern Ireland's Department for Social Development has commissioned KPMG to conduct a Strategic Review of its Voluntary and Community Unit to ensure that it is "fit for purpose". KPMG is seeking views from the sector, but wants responses by the end of 14th November (this Friday), at https://www.surveys.kpmg.com/mmi/2wGNMDC/2WAY.html. (CommunityNI news item.)

22. Supporting the use of Welsh as a community language
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A consultation has been started to seeks views on the draft Compact "between the Welsh Language Board, Welsh Assembly Government and the Third Sector to work together to strengthen the third sector's support for the use of Welsh as a community language". See Welsh Assembly news item, including link to the draft (in Word format, 103KB). Respond by 31st January.

31. The case for international data gathering on volunteering
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The third sector in Wales is being asked to help put pressure on the International Labour Organisation to include questions on volunteering in its regular Labour Force Surveys. Welsh voluntary sector umbrella body WCVA is spearheading a campaign on this "once in a lifetime" chance to get countries consistently collecting statistics on the economic value of volunteering. News item at http://www.wcva.org.uk/news/dsp_news.cfm?newsid=1194

32. Charity Appeals Panel to close after one case
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The Scottish Government has announced that the Scottish Charity Appeals Panel will be abolished after consultation and agreement on where to transfer its functions. The Panel has heard only one case in its two year history. This is part of a number of changes to bodies scrutinising public services in Scotland - news release at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/11/06103757. Or see Third Sector news item at http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/861116/ (registration required).

33. Care service re-tendering causing disruption
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Sector body Community Care Providers Scotland has highlighted a massive amount of disruption caused by the re-tendering of care services, which voluntary organisations believe focuses more on cost than on quality of service. SCVO news item.

34. Stakeholder and expert trustees create problems
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Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Julia Unwin argued at a sector conference last week that boards of trustees made up largely of stakeholders are unable to function properly because they struggle to make decisions. She also said that boards consisting of lots of experts, such as medical research charities, saw problems as the experts had pre-formed ideas and struggled to reach group decisions. Third Sector news item: http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/861121/ (registration required).

35. Catch 22 in tackling youth issues
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The merged youth charity Rainer Crime Concern has relaunched as Catch22. The name was chosen "because it's a situation a lot of young people find themselves in. They don't know how to get out of it, they lose confidence and give up." CYP Now news item at http://www.cypnow.co.uk/news/860644/, or see http://www.catch-22.org.uk.

36. Coalition for child safety education
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A government grant of over £1.6 million to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in partnership with the National Children's Bureau will lead to the creation of a Child Safety Education Coalition. This will work to improve the provision of practical safety education to give more children and young people the skills, knowledge and confidence to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. Department for Children, Schools and Families news at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0249.

37. Umbrella body support - hospices and more
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Sector umbrella body NCVO is to work with umbrella body Help the Hospices in looking at future developments in end of life care and develop support for hospices in responding to change. Running for six months, this is the first of seven such projects from NCVO's Third Sector Foresight, to provide practical results from research into social, political and others trends on specific areas. News release at http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/press/releases/?id=11724, or see more on the new support for infrastructure and umbrella organisations at http://www.3s4.org.uk/about/support-for-infrastructure-and-umbrellas.

38. Exploring innovative ideas in welfare services
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More details of the Department for Work and Pensions 'Right to Bid' scheme have been posted online. This aims "to capture and explore innovative ideas from external organisations which can provide measurable improvements in the way services are delivered." Any proposals which are genuinely innovative and pass certain tests will be considered. See http://www.dwp.gov.uk/supplyingdwp/what_we_buy/right_to_bid.asp or download the bidder's guide, pdf 51KB.

39. Key provider list for education and training services
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The Learning and Skills Council has created a Qualified Provider Framework for providers of education and training services - a list from which the LSC will secure education and training services. Umbrella body Acevo has more, including links (mainly to pdf files).

40. Last chance for funding applications
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The Foundation for Sport and the Arts has decided to cease activities in March 2012, after reviewing its financial position. This means that no new applications for funding will be considered after the end of March 2009. The Foundation seeks to fund a wide range of activities where there is clearly beneficial impact across the community, with a current focus to encourage active participation by young people. More details at http://www.thefsa.net. (Source: Voluntary Arts Network)

The last deadline for large grants from Community Spaces is in January, covering amounts between £50,000 and £450,000. Grants up to £50,000 continue to 2011. "Community Spaces is essentially about local people creating better local environments. We hope applications for larger grants will demonstrate some innovative ideas to regenerate public open spaces across the country." See http://www.community-spaces.org.uk/Apply. (News item.)

PDF note: to be able to read pdf files, download Adobe Reader from http://www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html, for accessibility matters see http://access.adobe.com. Or for an alternative, try Foxit Reader.

51. Valuing sector independence
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A checklist "to help voluntary and community organisations reflect on their independence" was launched at the NCVO/GMCVO autumn conference last week. Sponsored by the Barings Foundation, currently we can only find the document as a download from Third Sector's site, pdf, 172KB, http://offlinehbpl.hbpl.co.uk/NewsAttachments/NST/Checklist.pdf. (NCVO press release at http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/press/releases/?id=11786.)

Compact Voice has issued a report, 'Dancing to our own tune' sub-titled The Compact: Strengthening Voluntary Sector Independence, based on the findings of five focus groups in which voluntary and community sector employees discussed what they thought of the Compact and the impact it had on their independence. It highlights their believe organisations must take responsibility for their own independence. Compact news item or download pdf, 284KB.

52. Participatory Budgeting
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Urban Forum (http://www.urbanforum.org.uk) has produced a briefing on the recently published National Strategy for Participatory Budgeting, which sets out how the government aims to get this approach used in every local authority area by 2012. Pdf, 96KB, http://www.urbanforum.org.uk/pdf_files/participatory%20budgeting%20strategy%202008%2011.pdf

The Participatory Budgeting Unit (http://www.participatorybudgeting.org.uk, a project of Church Action on Poverty) has published 'Participatory budgeting in the UK: from the grassroots to the national agenda' (pdf, 119K) looking at the involvement of citizens in public spending decisions. (Source: e-government bulletin)

53. Community Led Planning resource
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An online resource for Community Led Planning has been created by rural community council body ACRE, drawing on the experience of the Rural Community Action Network practitioners at local level. "Community Led Planning is a step-by-step structured process, taken on by local community activists, to create a vision for a community and an action plan to achieve it." http://www.acre.org.uk/communityledplanning_index.html.

54. Making better use of public data
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The winning ideas annoucned in the government's Show Us A Better Way competition are to be supported to develop a range of really useful web sites. Top of the list is Can I Recycle It?, which aims to tell people what the recycling facilities are in their area, based on their postcode. Others where they hope to create a fully working tool are a cycle routes planner, school catchment areas, finding the nearest post-box or public toilet. See the full list on the press release or Show Us a Better Way site http://www.showusabetterway.co.uk.

We accept limited 'paid for' job ads: a guaranteed web site spot and trailing, plus basic details here. See http://www.volresource.org.uk/jobs/1.htm for opportunities/details.

** Newly listed: Counselling Service Administrators and Operations Administrator/Receptionists for Pioneering Care Partnership (Durham); Education Development Officer, Bow Arts Trust; Central Office Manager for Merton CAB.