The Department for Education today announced the voluntary organisations that have been successful in their bid for funding from the Department’s Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) grant worth around £60 million each year.
Over the next two years, the VCS organisations awarded grants today will play a significant role in reforming and delivering services for children, young people, parents and families.
At the launch of the bidding prospectus for the VCS grant in November 2010, the Government set out criteria to directly fund, at national level, voluntary and community organisations that work with children, young people, parents and families, with a particular emphasis on early intervention and tackling the needs of the most disadvantaged groups.
The VCS grant has been allocated according to services offered under specific grant themes, these are:
- Families and Relationship support
- Early Years and Childcare
- Child Protection and Safeguarding
- Young People
- Children in Care
- Special Educational Needs and Disability
In addition ‘Strategic Partner’ grants have been established to ensure Government gets advice about issues affecting VCS organisations and to help capacity building of the sector through transition, in particular smaller organisations. The themes for strategic partner grants are
- Family Services
- Young People
- SEN and Disability
- Early Years and Childcare
- Overarching
Following a competitive process, the successful VCS organisations have been notified of the indicative amount of grant they will receive, which is subject to negotiation, and the service the Government wishes them to deliver.
There will be around £6 million available from the £60 million for successful bidders to receive extra help and support to build extra capacity, so that they are in good shape to remain sustainable long after this two year grant comes to an end.
The Grant aims to help create
- a vigorous and responsive sector, freed up from dependency on grant-based funding and better equipped to operate within a payments by results environment
- organisations which are efficient, effective and sustainable - “commissioning ready” - funded through grants and contracts to provide services for LAs (and others)
- innovative approaches which will lever in private investment.
Through the localism bill, Government is opening up markets to enable the voluntary sector to play a bigger role in delivering key services such as children’s centres and youth services – and we will work with local authorities to ensure that they commission services from the sector.
Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said:
The Government is committed to supporting voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to have a much greater involvement in the running of public services.
The VCS is central to our commitment to building a Big Society. This is demonstrated by today’s announcement of around £60m each year for the next two years for VCS organisations. This is a significant investment in a tough financial climate, and is only one aspect of the funding we will route through the voluntary and community sector.
The voluntary sector plays, and will continue to play, a significant role in reforming services for children, young people and families. I hope this grant further inspires a responsive and determined sector to do even more to improve outcomes for children, young people, parents and families.
Notes to Editors
- This grant is part of a wider range of DfE funding opportunities. A number of contracted services will be procured through separate formal tender processes and there are likely to be other funding opportunities as a result of developing policies e.g. the forthcoming SEN and Disability Green Paper. In addition to central government funding available on a national basis, the Department continues to fund the voluntary and community sector indirectly through local authorities and for services which are commissioned by schools.
- While the VCS cannot be immune from reductions in public expenditure, the Spending Review announced that Government will direct around £470 million over the SR period to support capacity building in the sector, including an endowment fund to assist local voluntary and community organisations. As part of this, the Government will provide funds to pilot the National Citizen Service and establish a Transition Fund of £100 million to provide short term support for voluntary sector organisations providing public services. The sector will also be able to access funding from the Big Society Bank, which will bring in private sector funding in addition to receiving all funding available to England from dormant accounts. The Big Society bank will start operating in April with up to £100m of the £400m from dormant accounts being made available this year. High street banks are going to lend it another £200m on commercial terms.
- The Funding amounts are indicative. Year 1 funding is dependent on successful negotiations on detail of the grants. Year two amounts are dependent on successful delivery of agreed outcomes.
- A list of successful organisations is in the following table
Successful VCS Organisations
Disclaimer: The Funding amounts are indicative. Year 1 funding is dependent on successful negotiations on detail of the grants. Year two amounts are dependent on successful delivery of agreed outcomes.
Key to Themes:
- Families and Relationships
- Early Years & Childcare
- SEN & Disability
- Children in Care
- Child Protection & Safeguarding
- Young People
SP EY&C: Strategic Partner Early Years & Childcare
SP FS: Strategic Partner Family Services
SP SEND: Strategic Partner SEN & Disability
SP YP: Strategic Partner Young People
SP OA: Strategic Partner Over Arching
| Organisation name / Consortium Lead | The |
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Refer http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/pressnotices/a0074906/voluntary-an...
also refer http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums-keywords/benefits/social-care-rights... and
http://benefits.tcell.org.uk/forums/growing-social-investment-market-vis...
PDF version click here to view the analysis
Councils Should Support Charities More, Says Communities Secretary
Communities and Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles, has urged councils to provide more support to local voluntary groups.
The Communities Secretary said that while local authorities are looking to manage on reduced budgets that they should not "disproportionately" cut funding to charities and voluntary groups.
Pickles has issued guidelines that also mean councils have to give charities three months' notice of intended cuts and work with them in an effort to prevent them from having to shut down. The guidelines also proposed that Councils:
- Work with organisations to shape the future of the service.
- Speak to organisations and communities about other ideas of how the service could be continued in a different, or more efficient, way.
Also, in an attempt to cut red tape for councils Mr Pickles is scrapping 56 pages of statutory guidance on local priorities issued under the previous Government. The guidance spells out how councils should engage with the people in their area, how they should feedback information, and even a definition of what a 'local person' is. The change will remove barriers and burdens which Ministers believe will help councils to focus on serving their local communities.
Mr Pickles said:
"The Government is reducing the burden of bureaucracy and removing red tape from councils, local firms and the voluntary sector.
"I'm offering a social responsibility deal for town halls: I'm tearing up the unreasonable Whitehall red tape that costs them money and wastes their time. In return, local councils should treat local community groups with the full respect they deserve.
"I'm not asking councils to do anything that I wouldn't do myself, so all central government departments are also signing up to these fair new standards."
http://www.fundingcentral.org.uk/newsview.aspx?SH=&WCU=DSCODE=OTSSCMLIVE...
More Scots get active with latest 2014 communities grants
Refer http://news.biglotteryfund.org.uk/pr_090511_sco_2014comms_latest_2014_co...
Click here for TCell analysis
More than 2,000 charities across England have had their funding cut or withdrawn altogether by local councils, according to research.
An anti-cuts campaign produced the findings from more than 250 responses to Freedom of Information requests.
The cuts total more than £10m in the past year, but the final figure could be far higher, their report claimed.
The government said any councils not recognising the importance of the voluntary sector were "short-sighted".
A quarter of all charities receive funding from the state and for some groups - such as employment and training organisations - it can make up the bulk of their income.
Research for the False Economy website - a resource hub for the anti-cuts movement supported by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) - found it was charities related to children and young people that were most affected, with more than 200 receiving cuts in funding.
Birmingham was the council that had made the biggest number of cuts, although it is the largest local authority in the UK.
In the past year the cuts have totalled over £10m, but the final figure is likely to be as much as £100m because some authorities have not yet finalised their plans, said the report.
'Challenging decisions'
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the figures showed that the idea charities can replace direct services currently provided by central or local government was false.
"It sounds great, but in practice the Big Society is looking more and more like a big con," he said.
In response to the report, the government said although councils had "challenging decisions" to make around how they prioritise spending, they must resist passing on "disproportionate" savings to the voluntary sector.
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "In their approach to budget setting, the best councils are showing that they understand that a strong, thriving voluntary sector is more important now than ever and could be the key to providing high quality, good value services to their residents. But this is not the case everywhere.
"Councils that are failing to recognise the importance of the sector are being short-sighted in their approach."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14366522
also refer http://voluntarysectorcuts.org.uk/
Note: the organisation previously referred to as the "Big Society Bank" has now been officially named Big Society Capital group (BSC).
In February 2011 Government published a vision for growing the social investment market (PDF document), with Big Society Capital (BSC) central to this.
Big Society Capital will play a critical role in speeding up the growth of the social investment market, and so boost the ability of social enterprises, charities, voluntary and community organisations (collectively “the social sector”) to deal with social issues.
Big Society Capital will be a financial institution that aims to increase investment in society. It will do this by supporting organisations that invest in the sector, helping them:
- Provide a greater range of financial services to social sector organisations;
- Raise more money for onward investment into the sector; and
- Become more sustainable and resilient themselves.
Big Society Capital will also be a champion for social investment with policy makers, investors, stakeholders in the sector and the public at large.
Big Society Capital is being capitalised with up to around £400m from dormant bank accounts. An additional £200 million will be provided by the four largest UK high street banks.
Operating principles
Big Society Capital will have four principles guiding how it functions:
- Independence – non-public, social sector organisation with a clearly defined social mission, which operates in an objective and impartial way to grow a social investment market.
- Transparency – commitment to clear reporting of its financial results and social impact of its investments.
- Wholesaler – will work through existing and new organisations to encourage diversity and develop a broader market for social investment.
- Self Sufficiency/ Sustainability – Big Society Capital will aim to be self-sufficient over the long term, although there is likely to be some attrition of capital in the first few years.
Outline Proposal
Sir Ronald Cohen and Nick O’Donohoe, acting as Independent Advisers to Government on the Big Society Bank, put forward an outline proposal for Big Society Capital that was accepted by Government on 9 May.
You can read the letter endorsing the proposals from Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, to Sir Ronald Cohen and Nick O’Donohoe here, and find the outline proposal on the Cabinet Office website here.
Big Society Capital launched
On 29 July, Big Society Capital group announced the establishment of two expert boards, one for Big Society Capital Ltd, the operating company of the group, and one for the Big Society Trust, responsible for ensuring the group stays true to its mission.
Sir Ronald Cohen, renowned pioneer of venture capital, has agreed to serve as the unpaid, interim Chair of Big Society Capital Limited until it is fully operational and its Board has conducted a search for a more permanent Chair. Nick O’Donohoe, formerly Global Head of Research at JP Morgan, will take the helm as Big Society Capital’s first CEO.See the official website of Big Society Capital
For more details on both Boards see the launch details here.
Sir Ronald Cohen and Nick O’Donohoe are working closely with Government to ensure development of Big Society Capital group continues to meet the needs of the sector.
Interim Investment Committee
Government also directed the Big Lottery Fund to establish an interim Investment Committee. The Investment Committee has been directed by Government to use dormant account money to start making investments from this summer.
The Investment Committee is an interim body that will be wound up once Big Society Capital has become fully operational following State aid approval from the European Commission and Financial Services Authority authorisation.
The Investment Committee comprises six experts in social and financial investment including:
- John Kingston, Director of CAF Venturesome and chair of the Investment Committee
- Nat Sloane, Chair of Big Lottery Fund’s England Committee
- Anna Southall, Big Lottery Fund
- Sir Ronald Cohen, Independent Adviser to Government
- Nick O’Donohoe, Independent Adviser to Government
- Dawn Austwick, Chief Executive of Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
The Investment Committee has put out a call for social investment intermediaries to submit proposals to its Big Society Investment Fund for investment. If you are interested in applying read details of the fund and application process here.
Further information
Further information regarding Big Society Capital is available on our Frequently Asked Questions.
Some councils ‘have found ways to protect disabled people from cuts’
Some local authorities are doing far better than others in protecting disabled people from the impact of budget cuts, according to a new report.
Coping With The Cuts – written by the thinktank Demos for the disability charity Scope – ranks councils in England and Wales in order of how well they are dealing with the local government funding crisis.
It says that some councils that have faced drastically reduced budgets have still managed to protect their services for disabled people, while others that have actually seen increased budgets have coped “badly”.
Those with the best “coping” figures had introduced “creative” steps, such as involving disabled people in the decision-making process; committing to personalisation; promoting community-based support rather than segregated services; and integrating care, health, housing and leisure services.
Some of the councils that coped best were in the most deprived areas, with “coping scores” mixed across regions, rural and urban areas, and levels of deprivation.
The research also shows that some councils with lower “coping” scores were “using crude calculations” to identify how many disabled people lived in their area, such as a “guesstimate” based on “widely disputed” figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) said the report “illustrates that councils can respond with imagination to improve services for people with disability”, but also claimed that the report ranks councils using “discredited” criteria.
Peter Hay, president of ADASS, said: “There is nothing new in the claim that care is a broken sector – yet somehow despite all the challenges there are places that are finding unique ways of making a new offer.”
Richard Hawkes, chief executive of Scope, said: “We know that every council has to make cuts and there is no simple way to protect frontline services.
“However, it’s clear that some councils are taking creative steps to attempt to reduce the negative impact of budget cuts on disabled constituents and it is right to commend those councils for taking the initiative to do so.”
Meanwhile, a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO) says the Department of Health (DH) must do more to ensure that the care sector provides a “genuine choice of services” to disabled people and other service-users who use personal budgets.
The NAO report also says that most people who use a personal budget report “improved wellbeing”, although a small minority feel worse off.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: “As the population ages and more pressure is put on social care, [DH] must ensure that its oversight of the care market is robust, that people have access to the information and support that they need and that it has arrangements in place in the event of large providers getting into financial difficulty.”
By March 2011, 340,000 people had a personal budget, allowing them to choose how their care needs were met. The government wants all eligible service-users to have a personal budget by April 2013.
The £80 million Community First fund, which will provide small grants to community groups and local social action projects, was opened today by Nick Hurd Minister for Civil Society.
This comes in the same week that the first of 5,000 people to be trained as Community Organisers took up post. These are two flagship Big Society initiatives which together will encourage people to do more to help each other out and give them the tools they need to make a difference.
Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said:
People are frustrated about not being able to make a difference in the communities in which they live. This is especially true in areas of high deprivation that have been failed, again and again, by ineffective programmes that are imposed without an understanding of the unique problems in each area.
"Community Organisers and Community First will allow local people to work together, take control of their lives and create the change they want to see. We’re giving power back to people and supporting them to make their communities better places to live. This is part of a much wider drive to help revive social action and build a bigger, stronger society.
A Community First website has been opened today which invites people to sign their community up to receive support. Funding will be handed out by panels of local people so communities decide what’s important to them. The fund is divided into two strands. £30 million will be used to provide small grants. The remaining £50 million will be used to match private donations invested in community endowment funds which will pay out money for small grants well into the future.
The first Community Organisers took up post this week. They have begun a twelve month training programme based in local community groups in eleven places in England supported byy Locality, the Government’s national partner. They are learning the skills they need to identify local leaders and bring people together to act on what matters to them, including using new powers devolved from government to citizens. They will play an important role organising communities to take advantage of Community First funding. A total of 5,000 Community Organisers will be trained from now to 2015.
Alison Seabrooke, Chief Executive of CDF, the organisation running Community First, said:
CDF is delighted to launch Community First. With over 40 years of experience in supporting communities, we know that funds invested at a local level can have real impact in helping people make improvements to issues that matter to them. By incentivising people to match funds through time and other contributions, Community First will catalyse community action to make local improvements to neighbourhoods.
Jess Steele, Director of Innovation at Locality, the organisation running the Community Organisers projects, said:
I’ve just come back from the residential course which marks the start of the community organisers’ training year, and I was so impressed by their dedication, knowledge and sheer enthusiasm. They are going to be able to make a huge difference to their communities. By the time the Community Organisers programme is complete, we will have organisers working in communities – often some of the country’s most deprived ones – all around England.
Community Organisers
The first 47 community organisers have been recruited by host organisations from 11 communities. These 11 Kickstarter hosts were selected by Locality to be part of the pilot stage of the programme, chosen because of their experience and capacity to hit the ground running. The 11 Kickstarter hosts are:
- Barton Hill Settlement, Bristol
- Birmingham Settlement, Birmingham
- Cambridge House, South London
- Community Links, East London
- Goodwin Development Trust, Hull
- Keystone Development Trust, Norfolk
- Kirkgate Arts, Cockermouth, Cumbria
- Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
- Penwith Community Development Trust, Penzance, Cornwall
- St Peter’s Partnerships, Tameside, Greater Manchester
- Marsh Farm Outreach, Luton
Community Development Foundation (CDF) is a charity and social enterprise that is passionate about helping communities. Leaders in community-led solutions, they have managed multi-faceted community programmes to the value of £250m over the last five years. CDF delivered the £130m Grassroots Grants programme. They are also working with six partners to set up a new organisation that will manage the Big Local Trust and deliver the Big Local programme on behalf of the Big Lottery Fund. The new trust will be endowed by the Big Lottery Fund with £200m to work with up to 150 local areas over 10 years. Other national programmes they have led include Take Part, National Empowerment Programme (NEP), Tackling Race Inequality Fund, and Faiths in Action.
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/big-society-drive-boost-local-socia...
Uncertain times ahead for charities amidst public sector cuts
The prize money – £25K of unrestricted funds, plus free training worth an extra £4k – has always been coveted, but never more so than now, as charities face up to the difficult task of staying afloat financially whilst trying to figure out how they will fare amidst the health reforms and public sector cuts.
Assessing the 400 entries and choosing the 10 winning charities has been a fascinating and uplifting process, as always. We’ve heard some inspiring real-life stories about how charities have changed peoples’ lives – and helped support and sometimes prop-up health and social care services.
Take for example the Derry-based charity Foyle Haven, which works with street drinkers, reducing visits to A&E among its service users by 50 per cent. Some staff and volunteers at the charity were once drinkers themselves, which as one service user put it ‘makes all the difference. They know where you are coming from and it gives you hope for your own life’.
Age Concern Cardiff, another of this year’s winners, made an outstanding contribution to improving health and social care among the over-60s in the region. It has carried out innovative projects such as a Placement Advisor’s Scheme, whereby advisers work with older people who might need to move from hospital to a care home, as well as providing counselling and befriending services.
Voluntary and community groups such as these often focus on the ‘upstream’ management of people to help them to live healthy, independent lives and to reduce their reliance on the NHS. Their relationships with service users and communities often enable them to provide support across service boundaries, as well as being a vital source of information about local needs and gaps in services.
The NHS spends around £3.4 billion a year on services provided by the voluntary and community sector, which is mainly channelled via primary care trusts (PCTs). Many PCTs have worked hard to understand how their local voluntary and community sector operates and how it can help them. Given the number of pressures on the new GP consortia, is it unclear whether they will be able to develop a similar level of understanding of the sector’s potential contribution to health care.
The 10 winning charities have been selected because of their outstanding contributions to improving health. But they are just 10 of hundreds and possibly thousands of similar groups working to support vulnerable people. Many such charities work on less than £500k a year and are supported by hundreds of volunteers.
For all the talk of the Big Society, what will happen if spending cuts and changes in commissioning force many of these organisations to significantly reduce their services, or even to close down? What will be the wider impact of this on health services and will it be felt soon enough for action to be taken to prevent it?
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/gsk_impact.html