We are not alone. The UK scene of privatisation, corporate take-over and a fearful, if not, colluding voluntary sector is far advanced in Australia. NCIA’s Penny Waterhouse has been talking to Colin Penter from her home town in Perth, Western Australia about how it looks to them at each end of the globe.
Letter to … Continue reading
Voluntary Groups, Workfare and Benefits Sanctions – the Perils of Participation
Wednesday 19th March 12.30pm-3pm
LIFT Islington, 45 White Lion Street, London N1 9PW
The ‘Help to Work Programme’ (introduced last April) is specifically designed to attract the involvement of charities and voluntary groups.
Has your voluntary group received offers of ‘too-good-to-be-true’ 6-month long ‘volunteer’ … Continue reading
Do
voluntary groups delivering services still campaign for the interests of their service users and communities? This is the question examined by the latest in our series of reports on the Future of Voluntary Services. “Saying Less and Doing More” by Mike Aiken reaches troubling conclusions. Though small informal groups and activists are still very … Continue reading
The right to very little at all: NCIA submits evidence to House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee
The Localism Act 2011 offers communities a set of new ‘rights’. They may now challenge councils to run public services, bid for ‘assets of community value’, build local facilities and make statutory neighbourhood plans. As … Continue reading
Our latest newsletter is now available… launch of Localism Watch, more Inquiry reports, all the latest news, downhearted and uplifting. Get it here… Continue reading
We thought that Lisa Nandy MP, Labour Shadow Minister for Civil Society, might bring a fresh and enquiring eye to the tired politics we are used to. We were wrong. The message we take from the Labour Party “consultation with the third sector” is that Labour will do just the same as the Tories but … Continue reading
Ever wondered where our money goes? The National Audit Office has. So has Adur Voluntary Action, who are “mega pissed off” by the grim story painted by Radio 4’s analysis last night of the chaos that is the Big Society Network. “The receipt, and use, of funds by the Big Society Network’s associated projects…is … Continue reading
You know those gagging laws and clauses we’re faced with in UK? Well, don’t take it personally. It’s a global thing. In Australia, new conditions , which come into force on July 1st 2014, specifically state that organisations cannot use Commonwealth money for any activity directed towards law reform or advocacy. The federal government is … Continue reading
Yes, yet again, our latest newsletter is here, our bi-monthly round up of triumphs and disasters, heroic acts and dirty dealing. Dip into it http://ymlp.com/zO9aGd… Continue reading
Recently the Government announced that it was pulling the plug on the Peterborough Prison Social Impact Bond (SIB) pilot, despite an interim evaluation showing “promising results”. This scheme – due to have run for seven years instead of the three now planned – has been dragged round the conference circuit now for several years by … Continue reading