Cabinet Office Minister Hilary Armstrong has set up a review of how government can help internet advice sharing sites, such as Rightsnet and NetMums, empower people with (public sector) information that could improve their lives.

She has appointed Tom Steinberg, Director of MySociety, and Ed Mayo from the National Consumer Council to lead this.

News release.

Chief executives’ organisation Acevo and sector investment body Futurebuilders England are working together to find out how third sector leaders can increase their engagement with public sector commissioners of services.

As well as undertaking research on the leadership challenges involved in the commissioning process, there will be two half-day conferences on the subject.

Futurebuilders news item.

Detailed HM Revenue and Customs guidance notes, about Gift Aid on donations that attract a right of admission to view charity property, have been revised and expanded to assist charities to apply “relaxed benefit rules” correctly. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/news.htm.

Regulations on how charities must refer to themselves in most printed material, under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act, came into effect on 1st April. Charities registered with OSCR must show their registered number, registered name and any other name by which they are commonly known plus (if the name doesn’t include ‘charity’ or ‘charitable’) an approved reference to charitable status.

See the Charities References in Documents (Scotland) Regulations 2007 at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2007/20070203.htm. The Office of Scottish Charity Regulator news item also refers to requirements around charity constitution changes - http://www.oscr.org.uk/NewsItem.aspx?ID=c3a227b3-fd65-4a27-a93d-bee690fee2e8.

The Charity Commission has produced a Question and Answer supplement to its guidance on campaigning, in the light of concerns that there may be unnecessary caution about what charities are allowed to do. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/supportingcharities/campaignqa.asp.

With national elections in Wales (and Scotland) and local elections across England in May, this also points to separate guidance for such election periods: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/supportingcharities/elect.asp.

The HSE has improved its RIDDOR web site - Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. A guide to the requirements on employers, the self-employed and those in control of premises to report specified workplace incidents, with links to online reporting forms. http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm.

As of 6th April, the right to request flexible working has been extended to carers of adults, in addition to parents (and their partners) of children aged under 6 (or under 18 if the child is disabled).
– Acas, the employment advice body, has updated its advice leaflet ‘The right to apply for flexible working, A short guide for employers, working parents and carers’, http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=803.
– Carers UK, ‘the voice of carers’ has produced a 5 part online test to see if your organisation is ready for the new rules, http://www.carersuk.org/Employersforcarers/AssessmentToolforbusiness.
– DTI guidance on the legislation.

Volunteering England is running a photography competition for Volunteers’ Week. Photos of volunteering in action can only be submitted by email, by 25th May, with Dixons vouchers as prizes.

See http://www.volunteersweek.org.uk/article.php?id=102.

The first work programme of the Commission for the Compact, an independent organisation for the Compact which covers the working arrangements between government and the voluntary and community sector, has been launched.

It has four aims covering performance, policy development, learning and promotion. Identified tasks include a review of the Compact and its codes, as well as producing a short sharp summary statement of them, and the development of an assessment tool.

The draft Business Plan can be downloaded (pdf, 252kb) via the news release. A consultation will follow.

Charities Evaluation Services is carrying out research into monitoring and evaluation practice in the third sector, sponsored by the City Bridge Trust and the Performance Hub.

They want to learn from current practice, make practical tools and approaches more widely available and look at the challenges and benefits of monitoring and evaluation.
There are some rewards for completion of their survey.

Runs to 1st June. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=168193539478.

American resource and review site for non-profit software Idealware has a new ‘Introduction to Screencasting’.

Probably of most interest to those providing end-user technical support, screencasting is a type of video which demonstrates key computer tasks on screen accompanied by explanations. http://www.idealware.org/articles/screencasting.php.

Training Zone debunks the myth of the upcoming ‘digital natives’ generation of youngsters coming into employment not needing training in IT skills for work. http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=166387 (registration may be required).