Total 23 submissions – 15 successes (65%). Total North West investment = £5.618mil
Greater Manchester
11 Submissions – 8 successes (72%)
Combined authority - £290k
Central Manchester - £400k
Tameside - £338k
Oldham - £278k
Wigan - £373k
Bolton - £331k
Salford - £361k
Trafford - £383k
Total investment = £2.754mill
Merseyside
5 Submissions - 2 successes (40%)
Liverpool - £390k
Wirral - £373k
Total investment = £763k
Lancashire
3 Submissions – 3 successes (100%)
Lancashire - £599k
Blackburn - £396k
Blackpool - £400k
Total investment = 1.395k
Cheshire
3 Submissions – 2 successes (67%)
Cheshire West - £387k
Warrington - £319k
Total investment = £706k
Cumbria
1 Submissions – 0 successes (0%)
Total investment = £0
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The private member’s bill, introduced by Chris White, the Conservative MP for Warwick and Leamington, is designed to make public sector commissioners take into account the social value bidders can offer alongside financial considerations.
The bill was sent to be considered at committee stage by the whole House of Lords and if there are no more amendments to the bill by peers, it could become law within the next month.
Quoted in Third Sector magazine, Chris White said: "This bill is a great opportunity for us to not only spend public money better but also to support voluntary organisations, community groups and social enterprises across the country."
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The Race Equality Framework is an innovative pilot developed by One North West in Tameside, signalling a new approach to the Big Society and Localism. Within this document, we introduce a framework for social justice and equality that brings together the public and voluntary sector in true partnership. As intended, the Framework has taken on a new meaning that is specific to Tameside as delivered by DUO Development and Tameside Third Sector Coalition, but it was guided by five principles that were developed at the North West BME VCS Policy Forum.
These five equality principles emerged as a response to the challenges of Big Society and Localism, which if there are not measures put in place, could potentially serve to exclude minority communities from participating in the design and delivery of public services.
The framework provides an example of coproduction and shows that principles that are rooted in equality can be used, whilst still allowing for local action. It is one solution for the issues of localism
The framework will be officially launched at the One North West and Voice4Change Big Society event on 9th February, but it can be seen here:Tameside Race Equality Framework
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28 February 2012 10:00 - 14:00
TBC
In July 2011 the Open Public Services White Paper was launched looking at the reform of public services, particularly in terms of increasing the role of charities, social enterprises and the voluntary sector in public service delivery. This will naturally have a huge impact on our sector. In order to understand the parliamentary process further, this VSNW/Parliamentary Outreach Service eventwill include:
• Types of bills presented before Parliament
• The passage of a bill and its scrutiny through Parliament
• Key stages in which to engage with the passage of a bill
• Differences between Commons and Lords in their scrutiny of legislation
• Identifying relevant members to engage with on the legislation
• Useful resources in tracking and informing you of Public Service Reform
To register for this free event, email Helen Walker, VSNW Information Officerat helen.walker@vsnw.org.ukor call 0161 276 9300.
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1. £150 million Big Society 'endowment for the nation' launched - The new Community First endowment, which aims to raise £150 million to be invested to secure the future of local community projects in England, has been launched by Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society.
The Government will pay in up to £50 million, giving 50p for every £1 raised from individual, corporate and philanthropic donors. With Gift Aid tax relief, this will create a pot worth in excess of £150 million. The money will be invested and the return, expected to be up to £12 million per year, will be used to provide grants to local community and social action projects from 2015 onwards.
The Social Action Fund is a new grant fund of over £20 million managed by The Social Investment Business on behalf of the Office for Civil Society. The Fund aims to inspire organisations to create new social action opportunities; encouraging people to give what they have, be it time, money, assets, knowledge or specific skills. The second application window opened Monday 9 January 2012. All applications will have to be received by noon on Friday 3 February 2012. For more information - http://www.thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org/our-funds/social-action-fund
Successful applications will address the following themes:
Encourage people to come together in their locality to support each other
Projects that scale proven models to regional or national levels, or replicate them in other localities. Some priority will be given to models that encourage those who do not traditionally get involved as volunteers. Particularly interested in models that offer people the opportunity to give time and / or money to activities that deliver a public benefit and complement the public sector.
Focus on the different life stages of volunteering
Programmes that target the following will be favoured:
- Building a culture of participation among school children and university graduates
- Encouraging professionals who have retired or are on point of retirement to use their experience and skills for community/public benefit.
- Inspire and support NCS graduates who want to continue contributing to their communities through social action projects.
3. NAO report into Central Government's Implementation of the National Compact
In 2012 National Citizen Service will give up to 30,000 16-year-olds the chance to learn new skills and get involved in their community, a three-fold increase in the number of places in 2011.
The scheme will take place in a number of different locations across England. Information on providers by local authority area is available at -
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With cuts to legal advice services, justice and equality are denied to those who can't afford them, argues Shantele from Cheshire, Halton and Warrington Race Equality Centre.
I recently read about the case of Elliot Browne, a former NHS manager who won almost £1million in compensation against Central Manchester University NHS Trust for racial discrimination. It said he was so badly affected by the ordeal that he considered suicide.
Unfortunately, our discrimination casework service sees many people in the same position, who are so traumatised by their experiences that they fall into a spiral of anxiety and depression.
Discrimination is an insidious creature and its effects are long reaching, often affecting people's confidence for years to come.
An end to frontline legal casework
Eliot's success in winning the compensation comes a matter of weeks after we heard news that the Government was ending the EHRC's legal grants programme from April, which funds our discrimination casework service. It is a service that we are rightly proud of, offering a lifeline for people who have no-where else to turn, advising them of their rights and helping them find a remedy.
The government described the EHRC's grants programme as ‘poorly administered', but has failed to put in place an alternative structure to deliver the £4.2 million that was previously being awarded to deliver casework on the ground.
Double discrimination
Advice organisations across the country are not only being battered by the cuts in public spending, but are now facing the very real threat of cutting their discrimination casework services.
Legal aid may still be an option for a few, butmostof the cases we deal with are for people who don't qualify but can't afford the costs of a private solicitor. Those who encounter discrimination are often already in the lowest paid jobs, so they will now face double discrimination as they struggle to access good quality advice.
So what will be the impact of this latest cut?
Realistically, I think it will mean fewer people exercising their rights under equality legislation and more employers getting away with discriminating because there is no one left to challenge them. We know that case law shapes policy and practice, so the fewer cases that get heard the more likely we are to see a return to poor policy and a lack of consideration for equality issues.
We may have stronger equality laws than ever before, but what use are they if the people they were designed to protect can't use them?
We have started a petition to call on the government to change its position on funding discrimination casework –please sign here.
From: http://www.voice4change-england.co.uk/content/equality-and-justice-only-if-you-can-afford-them-0
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Research into the impact of Government policy on Equalities Groups in the North West finds that:
1. Reformshave 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. Implementationis disproportionately harming the most excluded
6. The capacity of equalities groupsto participate andhold public bodies to account is heading towards a point of critical failure.
Links:
► The Full report (.pdf, 800KB) is available below through downloadlink
► A word version is available here (4 MB)
► Executive Summary (.pdf)
► Executive Summary (.word)
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Diabetes UK is recruiting to our voluntary Council of People Living with Diabetes. This group is made up of people from across the UK, with a wide range of diabetes experiences, who advise the charities Board and Executive Team.
As well as places available on the council for new members with Type 2, we're also currently underrepresented from minority ethnic communities.
So if you're passionate about having your views about living with Type 2 heard, and want to shape the work of Diabetes UK, get in touch for more information and an application pack.
tel: 020 7424 1000 or email: governance@diabetes.org.uk. Deadline for applications is 24 February 2012.
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Cheshire, Halton & Warrington Race & Equality Centre's discrimination casework service is under threat of closure from April. The service, which has been funded through the Equality and Human Rights Commission (and previously the Commission for Racial Equality) for over 10 years is now at risk with the government's decision to withdraw the EHRC's grant function from the end of March.
In a letter from the EHRC to grant holders they stated ‘Ministers have confirmed that future Government funding for legal advice on discrimination will be solely through legal aid.'
The current service provides a free legal support, advice and representation to individuals who have experienced discrimination. Last year the service dealt with 172 complaints of discrimination5 and secured over £82,000 in compensation for clients.
‘Government Equalities Office has stated that discrimination cases can be dealt with through legal aid, and don't require a separate pot of funding. However, this fails to recognise the real difficulties that people facing discrimination experience. Most of the cases we deal with are employment based and clients are not eligible under legal aid rules, but equally the claim amount is not high enough to justify the fees of a solicitor; combined with this is the lack of no win no fee options available – few lawyers want to take a case on this basis because of the notorious difficulties in proving discrimination cases,' states Shantele Janes, Director of the Centre ‘often the clients we see are vulnerable, because of their circumstances and they require some support from us. As a charity that seeks to promote equality, we can offer that support unlike a private organisation that is ultimately focused on targets and making money. For us this service is grassroots – if we can no longer offer this, why are we here?'.
The organisation also provides opportunities for volunteering; at the moment the Centre supports 8 volunteers through the College of Law who are working to gain experience in discrimination work.
Now, the organisation is campaigning against the decision of the government. ‘It is of ultimate importance that we continue to offer this service and we have started an e-petition on the government website – http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/27071 or go onto our website http://www.chawrec.org.uk/ . We'd like as many people as possible to sign it – we can't just let this decision go without a fight' said Eric Bowers, Chair of the REC. The Centre is also looking for alternative sources of funding to keep the service going and is calling for donations
For more information please see: http://www.chawrec.org.uk/
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An opportunity for people who identify as black or minority ethnic and lesbian, gay and bisexual to share experiences, listen to others and find out about the support and information available.
Being Me Saturday - 4th February 2012, 1-5pm at The Lesbian & Gay Foundation’s Community Resource Centre, Number 5, Richmond Street, Manchester M1 3HF.
An afternoon of celebration of all that is lesbian, gay and bisexual from all aspects of our diverse community.Celebrating through food, through video and through personal experiences.
To reserve your place, please email or telephone Darren Knight at The Lesbian & Gay Foundation:darren.knight@lgf.org.ukor0845 3 30 30 30.
If you have any access or dietary requirements contact
darren.knight@lgf.org.uk or 0845 3 30 30 30.
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