Northern Ireland’s Charities Act 2008 is expected to be fully operational by early 2011, with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland established in March 2009, followed by consultation on public benefit and first charity registrations in April 2010. More on the draft timetable at http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/charities_draft_time_table.htm, part of an interim web site for the Commission at http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/ccni.htm. We note that the name is rendered incorrectly as the Charities Commission at least once, so hope the rest of the information is accurate! Northern Ireland’s umbrella body NICVA has also published a briefing document on the new law, see http://www.nicva.org/index.cfm/section/General/key/141205CharReform.

In the Republic of Ireland, the Charities Bill 2007 was passed by Seanad Eireann on 11th December, and returns to the other chamber (the Dail) to address the amendments accepted in the Seanad. Once signed into law by the President, the government has indicated that it will be commenced in stages, and could take up to two years to be fully operational. More background at The Wheel, or go to http://www.pobail.ie/en/CharitiesRegulation/.

OSCR, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, has published a study on small charity accounts, comparing this year’s findings against last year’s benchmark. This involved examining in detail the accounts of a representative 250 charities with an income under £25,000 a year.

‘Significant progress’ in the quality of accounts was found. However, there is room for much improvement, for example with some charities still using an older format of accounting which does not meet current requirements. There are some more suggestions in the OSCR news item, plus a link to the full report (pdf, 100KB).

The government has published a series of documents relating to its commitment to working in partnership with charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises in delivering public services. News item at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/news/news_stories/081211_psap.aspx, direct links as follows:

– ‘Working in a consortium: A guide for third sector organisations involved in public service delivery’, pdf, 335KB, http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/107235/consortium%20guide%20final.pdf.

– The results of a project examining ’social clauses’ in contracts as a way of promoting the social impact of public service delivery. In pdf, 115KB, http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/107238/social%20clauses%20report%20final.pdf.

– A progress update on the Public Services Action Plan published in 2006 includes “the Government’s key achievements” such as “Transforming the commissioning landscape by supporting and encouraging public sector commissioners to work more closely with the sector” and establishing the Innovation Exchange. ‘Partnership in Public Services: the public services action plan Two years on’ pdf, 136KB, http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/107232/psap_two_years_on.pdf.

– And Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) publishes the government’s response to its report ‘Public Services and the Third Sector: Rhetoric and Reality’.

Nonprofit Online News breaks its own rules to recommend a report from a software vendor, as it reckons Mailer Mailer’s 2008 Email Marketing Metrics Report is worth it (while cautioning against not developing your own meaningful metrics).

“For example, did you know that people are opening their email sooner, most likely as a result of mobile access? Or that open rates are stabilizing after a period of decline?” This will presumably be based on largely US data, pdf 3.79MB at http://imagehosting.mailermailer.com/email-marketing-metrics-2008h1.pdf.

The Small Charities Coalition has launched a new web site at http://www.smallcharities.org.uk. This aims to enable registered charities an income of less than £1 million to gain from sharing experience and skills.

VolResource also notes a number of other sector support sites launched recently - The Foundation for Social Improvement at http://www.thefsi.org (drop that blue/green text on purple, please!), Third Sector Forums at http://www.thirdsectorforums.co.uk, and launching spring 2009 KnowHow NonProfit at http://www.knowhownonprofit.org. VolResource itself could do with a comprehensive update, but we’ll try to cover anything useful from these sites as it appears.

The Women’s Resource Centre has produced a guide to engaging with the local agenda (basically Local Strategic Partnerships and local councils).

As decision making powers are devolved to local areas, women’s organisations must engage with the local agenda to ensure their issues and services (and funding for them) are taken into account. Much is also relevant to other organisations too.

bassac conference  25-26 February 2009 - Peepul Centre, Leicester

Take time out of your schedule to find out more about working together, network with peers and refresh your ideas. Discuss how collaboration, collective action and cooperation can strengthen the voluntary and community sector, and lead you to challenge national policy and deliver lasting local change.

Join us at the bassac conference and meet frontline community organisations tackling marginalisation and exclusion directly.

Together we will identify actions for the future - solutions informed by a powerful mix of people, practice and policy.

To find out more and to book a place go to www.bassac.org.uk

Third sector organisations are to get access to an extended leadership and management programme through Train to Gain, the government’s flagship skills service. Funding rules will be relaxed from January, enabling support such as stand-alone accredited training modules and part-qualifications in essential areas such as business systems, communications, sales and marketing, information technology, customer service, finance and credit, risk management. Office of Third Sector news item.

Third Sector magazine also states that the Learning and Skills Council has awarded £100,000 to Acevo to conduct research on third sector leadership skills gaps and the uptake of Train to Gain among charities. Acevo has established a task force consisting of the LSC, government and voluntary sector representatives to oversee the research and report in the spring. http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/866253/ (registration required).

The Scottish Government has published research which provides a database of village halls across Scotland. It finds that two thirds are more than half a century old and about the same number needs improvement or repair, and less than 20 per cent of committee members have undergone formal training in their role

News release at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/12/08112233, ‘Community facilities in rural Scotland: a study of their use, provision and condition’ (pdf 122KB) at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/253868/0075221.pdf.

December’s newsletter from NCVO’s Campaigning Effectiveness team includes news of an online forum “created to enable policy workers across civil society to network, collaborate and share information” - Policy Forum is at http://www.ncvopolicyforum.org.uk/.

The newsletter has more on resources, information and campaign case studies to support and inspire - see http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/campaigningeffectiveness/.

New Philanthropy Capital’s recent report, ‘Critical masses: Social campaigning guide for donors and funders’, explores the role of campaigning charities and highlights the significant part they can play in changing legislation and shifting attitudes, and looks at common concerns donors and funders may have.

Full report (pdf, 985KB) or summary (348KB) at NPC (registration required).

Public policy is encouraging the community ownership and management of assets (including buildings and land) in England and there are similar moves in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation have published a report reviewing the evidence on the scale of existing activity, the benefits that arise and the factors that support it happening. http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/details.asp?pubID=1042