There was very little in the Pre Budget Report presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Monday (24th November) specifically for the third sector. The full text does have a couple of paragraphs “confirm(ing) the Government’s ongoing commitment to the third sector” and the importance of social enterprise, http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/news/news_stories/081124_pbr.aspx.

Otherwise, two national charities are to receive additional funds to provide additional debt advice to people in financial difficulty - Citizens Advice gets £10 million and the Money Advice Trust £5.85 million, as reported in Third Sector, http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/864587/ (registration required).

The temporary reduction in the standard rate of VAT from 17.5% to 15% starting on 1st December will save many voluntary organisations some running costs and has been welcomed by sector umbrella bodies, for example Charity Finance Directors’ Group, http://www.cfdg.org.uk/cfdg/prdetail.asp?presscode=241108.

CFDG has also produced a briefing note on the budget changes, available via http://www.cfdg.org.uk/cfdg/influencing_current_issues.asp. For practical information on VAT rate changes, see HM Revenue and Customs, http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/measure1.htm.

The “recession summit” called by third sector bodies for Monday (24th November) didn’t come up with any immediate solutions from the government, but Kevin Brennan, Minister for the Third Sector, did announce his intention to develop an action plan of government support for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises through the economic downturn. This will be published early in the new year, but further views and proposals can be submitted before 26th December - see OTS news.*

Charity News Alert item includes comments at the summit from unions and funders as well as sector support bodies, at http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2406.

*UPDATE  OTS email bulletin of 1st December says:  “Your comments will play an important part in the development of the action plan and we would very much welcome your thoughts and ideas by 31st December 2008. Please send any comments to actionplan@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk.” Further information at second OTS news item

Volunteering England has produced a step-by-step guide on the initial stages of developing student volunteering programmes and how to set up successful, sustainable projects.

See Toolkit info.

Material developed by a project to provide basic training for volunteers in museums is now available to download, primarily for museums who want to run their own in-house training but of potential interest to others.

London Museums Hub Volunteer Training Bank at http://www.mlalondon.org.uk/renaissance/index.cfm?NavigationID=450.

(Source: UKVPM list)

Five ideas for charity workers to involve service users and volunteers in campaigning communications from the Ask Charity blog at http://www.askcharity.org.uk/blog/2008/11/communications_volunteers.php.

A fifteen point action plan has been developed by Communities Department with leading rough sleeping charities, which will use action, advice and assistance across England to prevent the flow of people onto the streets, and support those already there to move into stability.

Download ‘No One Left Out - Communities ending rough sleeping’ from http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/roughsleepingstrategy.

The Race for Justice coalition has published ‘Less Equal than Others: ethnic minorities and the criminal justice system’, which highlights the strength and value of the numerous voluntary and community-based organisations that support those whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system. In pdf, 356KB.

The Scottish Government has published a discussion paper on extending Freedom of Information legislation to cover more organisations. Views are wanted on whether this should include a) contractors who provide services that are a function of a public authority, b) registered social landlords, c) local authority trusts or bodies set up by local authorities.

News item at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/11/17132514 or go direct to http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/FOI/Coverage. Respond by 12th January.

The Bridges Social Entrepreneurs Fund (launched 12th November) has £4.25 million available to provide equity-like loans of up to one million pounds to social enterprises. These are aimed at mid-range organisations that can demonstrate “high social impact” and have viable plans to expand.

There is a range of big name investors behind the initiative, which is run by Bridge Ventures with backing from National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. Find out more at http://www.bridgesventures.com/news.php?newsID=54, or see Charity Finance news alert at http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2376.

A million pound Social Entrepreneurs Fund is to begin operating in Scotland from March 2009, to help get new social enterprises up and running. It will be delivered by the charity Firstport using government money, and is expected to make around 200 awards in its planned two year life.

Official news item at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/11/18105231, Firstport has more information via http://www.firstport.org.uk/node/3059.

Sector investment body Futurebuilders England is asking for feedback on three potential new products.

The Management Development Fund and Partnership (development) Fund are straightforward, while a Quasi-Equity Fund would provide an investment of working capital where a portion would be repayable as a patient capital loan and a portion would be issued as ‘equity’. Give views here.

Russell Commission Youth Volunteering Grants are available in Wales to support the delivery and promotion of a wide range of new volunteering opportunities, especially for disadvantaged young people.

Information on WCVA web site, deadline 19th December.

Capacitybuilders has launched a five million pound capital grants programme to develop third sector resource centres in England. This is the last main funding stream to start up under the Office of the Third Sector’s ChangeUp investments for 2008/11.

The three phases of the programme starts with grants to functioning resource centres to support smaller-scale improvements, applications by 31st January 2009. That date is also the deadline for expressions of interest for Phase 2 support of significant refurbishment and development of premises. Phase 3 will fund around five flagship projects. More at Capacitybuilders.