All employers should by now have received a final ’stop notice’ for each of their employees in receipt of Working Tax Credit, as HM Revenue and Customs takes over paying the credit direct from April. If not, contact your HMRC office immediately.

A non-technical explanation of what Web 2.0 is has appeared on openDemocracy. Put simply, an improved version of the web, more interactive and responsive.

Blogs, tagging and open-content “transforming business models, relationships and minds on its way to creating Web 2.0.” http://www.opendemocracy.net/media/payday_3351.jsp.

For an alternative viewpoint from media and journalism, the Publishing 2.0 blog may be of interest: http://publishing2.com.

VolResource newsletter subscriber David Wilcox reports on the launch of the online CampaignCreator in Bristol, on his blog at http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/2006/03/for_collaborati.html.

It’s more about the campaigns than the technology - the discussion focused more on democracy and whether councils and community activists can work together.

Investing in Volunteers has published its “Impact” report, written by the Centre for Voluntary Action Research at Aston Business School. It looks at the benefits and future measurement of this standard for volunteer management. In pdf format, 160kb, from http://www.investinginvolunteers.org.uk/Impact_Benefits_report_2006.pdf.

With the government looking at faith communities as “important sources of social capital”, Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published research asking How far is faith in ‘faith’ justified? How far should faith communities engage with government agendas, and what can they contribute to building bridges and forging links with others? http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/0136.asp.

‘What is Community Development?’ is the first in a series of information sheets which will make up a new Resource Pack from Community Development Exchange. Pdf format, 67 Kb, from http://www.cdx.org.uk/resources/what%20is%20cd.pdf.

Gordon Brown today announced an extra £2 million investment to reward innovative youth projects a

It may be our imagination, but today’s Budget seemed to be more up-front on mentioning initiatives involving the voluntary sector. previously most of these had to be dug out of the accompanying reports. We spotted several clear items in Gordon Brown’s speech (although actual wording may be from the reports - must practice note taking more!):

• close engagement with partners in the private and third sector organisations, to find the best means of supporting and encouraging people into work.
• up to £150 million budget (from various sources) for the youth volunteering charity to be launched in May (Russell Commission successor).
• environmental volunteering supported further from landfill tax funds.
• VAT exemption to continue on renovations of church and faith related buildings and monuments.
• an Office of the Voluntary Sector (not actually called that), and including faith groups, established by the Treasury to be involved in ensuring effectiveness of Gift Aid, Futurebuilders and more.

Here’s 2 significant paragraphs from Chapter 5 of the Budget report:

5.64 This Budget announces that HM Treasury will undertake a review into the future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration. The review, overseen by a crossdepartmental ministerial group, will take a cross-cutting approach to the long-term priorities for the sector, in the context of the future challenges that our society now faces. Campbell Robb, Director of Public Policy at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, will play a leading advisory role in the review. In its first phase, the review will be informed by the largest consultation ever undertaken with the third sector, seeking views from a wide range of organisations. It will be launched at a conference in May and then taken to every region by the ministerial group. The results will feed into the Comprehensive Spending Review, as set out in Chapter 6, with initial conclusions available at the time of the Pre-Budget Report.

5.65 This Budget announces that working with the Active Communities Directorate in the Home Office, the DTI’s Social Enterprise Unit and the HMRC Charities unit, an Office of Charity and Third Sector Finance will be established in HM Treasury, linking the work of HM Treasury across the range of third sector issues to provide strategic coordinated engagement.
A third sector advisory panel will be established to advise the Office on third sector issues. The advisory panel will include young volunteers, representatives of third sector umbrella bodies and members of different faith communities and will report to the Chancellor.

More

From para 5.68: “The Budget announces that, based on young people’s priorities for action, [the first wave of youth volunteering opportunities] will include sport, the arts, media and the environment. Additional private sector support will be generated for environmental volunteering schemes by focusing the over £10 million increase in the value of the landfill tax credit scheme on such projects,.”

See VoluntaryNews’ Public News category for CFDG press release covering three Budget measures intended to stop abuse of charity reliefs, which CFDG considers necessary to protect the charity brand, and won’t impact on genuine charitable purposes.

Press release from CFDG (www.cfdg.org.uk):

For some time now there has been concern about the abuse of reliefs for charities by individuals seeking to take advantage of the generous income tax relief available to charity donors. The Charity Finance Directors Group believes that it is essential that the charity brand is protected and not tainted by association with tax avoidance schemes. It therefore supports measures to protect charitable reliefs from such abuse.

The Budget provides for three measures to counter those wishing to take advantage of the current accessibility of tax reliefs and light touch administration from government.

These measures seek to protect the current reliefs to charities and ensure it is only charitable activity that has access to tax relief. The measures below should have no impact on the flow of money to genuine charitable purposes and charities should not be affected by these measures where they use their funds for the benefit of charity.

The first measure introduced concerns Company Gift Aid. Currently there are anti avoidance measures in place for “close” companies. These prevent the donor receiving a large benefit from the charity in return for the donation and impose other restrictions that prevent the donation being repaid or being part of an arrangement to purchase property.

From 1 April 2006 the anti avoidance measures will be extended to apply to all companies thereby bringing the measures in line with “close” companies and individuals and introducing a level playing field.

The second measure provides a more direct restriction of tax reliefs where a charity incurs non charitable expenditure. The change will bring tax law into line with charity law. A charity will lose tax relief on a pound for pound basis where it incurs non charitable expenditure.

This measure will be implemented with effect from 22nd March and charities spending money on charitable activities should see no change and this measure should have no impact on their activities.

The third measure is to stop people who use charities as private moneyboxes, reaping the tax reliefs and then taking the money out for private use. In future any person, company or trust donating £25,000 in any 12 month period or £100,000 in a 6 year period wil be classed as a ‘substantial donor’. Once the donation limit has been met and the company, person or trust has been identified as a ‘substantial donor’ this will be effective for that year and the next five years.

Transaction between a ‘substantial donor’ and a charity will potentially be caught by the new legislation. However, the legislation will filter out genuine commercial transactions between a ‘susbtantial donor’ and a charity as well as those that are beneficial to the charity and the charity’s objectives and not for the avoidance of tax.

Again this measure should have little effect on genuine charities. For those charities who do have ‘substantial donors’ it is likely that they will want to be aware and proactively manage relations with the donor so should be aware to such issues.

This measure will be implemented as of 22nd March.

Extracted from today’s Budget report, Chapter 5. Commentary to come.

SUPPORTING CHARITIES, COMMUNITIES AND GIVING

5.63 The Government recognises the vital role played by a vibrant third sector in our society, from bringing people together through voluntary action and advocacy, building social capital and strengthening communities, to the delivery of public services. That is why the Government has introduced such a wide range of support for the sector both through the tax system and new policy initiatives targeted on developing capacity. Building on these measures and going forward into the next phase of this relationship, the government now wants to ensure that the third sector is fully consulted and recognised through the Comprehensive Spending Review process.
5.64 This Budget announces that HM Treasury will undertake a review into the future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration. The review, overseen by a crossdepartmental ministerial group, will take a cross-cutting approach to the long-term priorities for the sector, in the context of the future challenges that our society now faces. Campbell Robb, Director of Public Policy at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, will play a leading advisory role in the review. In its first phase, the review will be informed by the largest consultation ever undertaken with the third sector, seeking views from a wide range of organisations. It will be launched at a conference in May and then taken to every region by the ministerial group. The results will feed into the Comprehensive Spending Review, as set out in Chapter 6, with initial conclusions available at the time of the Pre-Budget Report.
5.65 This Budget announces that working with the Active Communities Directorate in the Home Office, the DTI’s Social Enterprise Unit and the HMRC Charities unit, an Office of Charity and Third Sector Finance will be established in HM Treasury, linking the work of HM Treasury across the range of third sector issues to provide strategic coordinated engagement.
A third sector advisory panel will be established to advise the Office on third sector issues. The advisory panel will include young volunteers, representatives of third sector umbrella bodies and members of different faith communities and will report to the Chancellor.
5.66 The Year of the Volunteer 2005 successfully promoted active community participation across the country. Going forward, the Government will work with third sector and corporate partners to embed the achievements of the year, maximising participation of all age groups from a diverse range of backgrounds, as well as encouraging corporate community involvement through a responsible business conference later this year.
5.67 The Russell Commission reported at Budget 2005 and set out recommendations to deliver a step change in the quality, quantity and diversity of young people’s volunteering. Budget 2005 announced public investment of up to £100 million, including a fund available to match contributions from business. This Budget announces that over £10 million has been raised from 19 new corporate supporters and the seven Founding Partner companies.
5.68 A new independent charity, to be led by Rod Aldridge as chair and Terry Ryall as chief executive, has been established to take forward the recommendations of the Russell Commission. Board members of the new charity have been appointed and will be responsible for commissioning a series of taster, part-time and full-time volunteering opportunities forone million new volunteers over the next five years. A board of young people, V20, will advise the new charity, which will be formally launched in May. The first wave of opportunities will then be commissioned. The Budget announces that, based on young people’s priorities for action, these will include sport, the arts, media and the environment. Additional private sector support will be generated for environmental volunteering schemes by focusing the over £10 million increase in the value of the landfill tax credit scheme on such projects, as set out in Chapter 7.
5.69 The Invest to Save Budget (ISB) was launched following the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review to create a ‘venturecapital fund’ for public sector delivery with an emphasis on innovation and partnership working. Since it was created in 1998, the ISB has funded some 463 projects worth nearly £450 million. Of this, approximately £97 million has been allocated to projects relating to the third sector.
5.70 The eighth annual ISB bidding round has now been completed. The Government is today announcing the allocation of £31million from the ISB to fund 30 innovative projects dedicated to delivering cash releasing efficiencies, improving energyefficiency and increasing access to arts and culture. The ISB continues to promote partnerships involving the thirdsector, with 12 of the successful partnership bids, totalling some £12.4 million, being sector-led. The Government can now also announce a ninth bidding round for the ISB for 2007, focused on the third sector’s role in building fairer communities and delivering public services.
5.71 There will be a permanent memorial to those who lost their lives in the London bombings on 7 July 2005. The Chancellor has already announced that the Government will make a contribution to the costs of any memorial chosen by the victims’ families.The total Government contribution will depend on the level of donations that may be given in support of an appropriate memorial but the Budget confirms that up to £1 million will be available to underwrite the costs.
5.72 This Budget confirms that the Government will support with an initial endowment of £1 million the creation of a new charitable Terrorism Relief Fund to provide rapid relief to victims of terrorism at home and abroad.
5.73 The Government continues to find ways to support the use of the tax reliefs for giving. HM Revenue and Customs has set up a Charities unit to provide an integrated service for charities and their donors, with improved web-based guidance and dedicated expert support.
5.74 The Home Office funded Payroll Giving Grant Scheme continues to increase the numbers of small- and medium-sized businesses offering Payroll Giving schemes. In January 2006, HM Treasury hosted the launch of the Quality Mark Award, recognising employers who achieve minimum employee participation rates in their schemes. Over 700 employers have received awards since the launch. The Government is keen to encourage greater use of tax reliefs for giving and wants to ensure these are used for the purposes intended – this chapter also announces measures to preserve the integrity of charitable reliefs.
5.75 In recognition of the importance of places of worship and memorials for local communities, the Government will extend the period for which funding will be available for the listed places of worship and memorials VAT refund schemes for three further years until
2010-11. Both schemes will now also cover the VAT costs incurred on professional fees and include fixtures and fittings for listed places of worship, such as bells, pews, clocks and organs.
5.76 Following the announcement in the Pre-Budget Report, the banking industry has set in train work to develop a scheme to enable unclaimed assets to be reinvested in society. The Government continues to be clear that such a scheme should be introduced, on a basis consistent with retaining the rights of owners to reclaim assets at any time and with this in mind it is continuing to assess the legal and accounting issues involved. The industry’s steering group will consider issues of reuniting, definition and operation and distribution.
The Government welcomes this and the industry’s commitment, building on existing work in this area, to launch a comprehensive new exercise to reunite owners and assets prior to such a scheme being launched.
5.77 Looking ahead, the industry will continue to work to establish a scheme that allows genuinely unclaimed assets to be reinvested in the community in a sustainable way and through a coordinated delivery mechanism, with a focus on youth services and encouraging more active community engagement among young people, and on financial education and exclusion. The industry will work in consultation with the Government and other key stakeholders, including voluntary and community sector organisations and social enterprises.

Link to Budget 2006: reports

Rosie Chapman, the Charity Commission’s director of policy and effectiveness, writes in Society Guardian, in conenction with today’s conference on public services and charities:

“Charities have a proud history of being at the forefront of social change, and any contract that implicitly or explicitly muzzles charities from speaking out for change is a contract they should walk away from. The charity sector’s reputation for integrity and credibility is an important tool for change and should be protected at all costs.”

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Comment | Are charities the new public sector?

New advice and guidance for voluntary and community organisations thinking about working in partnership to deliver public services is available from the Collaborative Working Unit at NCVO.

The ‘Joint working for public service delivery’ model is online at http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/collaborativeworkingunit/information/?id=2054, or see the press release for how to order a hard copy: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/press/releases.asp?id=2451.