Urban Forum has produced a briefing about the new Local Area Agreements (LAAs) which local government will be implementing. It explains what they are and how they will work in their wider context of the New Performance Framework, and some handy hints on how to be more involved.

In Word format, 61kb, from http://www.urbanforum.org.uk/word%20files/LAA_briefing_Jan_08.doc.

Plaza Publishing news alert reports that Shelter is facing the possibility of industrial action after union members voted to reject proposals to change staff pay and working conditions.

The charity has said that the changes are essential in competing for major contracts such as those from the Legal Services Commission. News item at http://www.plazapublishing.co.uk/shelter.html.

A number of connected consultations (for England), where you might like to take a look at NCVO’s Briefing on Developments on Local Government Issues first - in Word format, 235kb, from http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/index.asp?id=2445.

Community strategies, local area agreements, performance indicators

Draft guidance to local authorities and their partners on creating strong safe and prosperous communities, in connection with the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 is out for consultation. It covers Local Strategic Partnerships, Sustainable Community Strategies, the new duty to involve, Local Area Agreements, the revised best value regime and commissioning. Responses by 12th February. http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/statutoryguidance.

The government is also consulting to 21st December on the technical definitions for the set of 198 national performance indicators from which LSPs will chose up to 35 to apply locally. http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/localgovernment/indicatorsdefinitions

Sector representation in Local Strategic Partnerships

‘Principles of representation: A framework for effective third sector representation in Local Strategic Partnerships’ is a set of guiding principles intended to assist the local third sector to organise itself and maximise the impact of its voice on LSPs. Consultation to 12th February, http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/principlesofrepresentation.

Local snapshots in Comprehensive Area Assessments

Connected with the above is a consultation document on developing the Comprehensive Area Assessment by the Audit Commission. This is designed to give an annual snapshot of life in a local area and help local services to improve quality of life. To 12th February - see Office of Third Sector intro.

Findings from a survey on strategic planning in third sector organisations, ‘Tools for strategic planning: what works best’.

Research report on ‘Use of outcomes measurement systems within housing and homelessness organisations’ includes key recommendations.

The Scottish Government has announced that it is to abolish housing and regeneration agency Communities Scotland, with many of its functions going to local authorities. A discussion paper on the future direction of housing policy in Scotland has also been issued, with responses wanted by 25th January.

News release at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/10/31142057, or go to ‘Firm Foundations - The Future of Housing in Scotland’ at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/30153156/0.

The ‘Sub-national economic development and regeneration review’, covering Englandand  recently published by the government, makes little mention of the voluntary sector. However proposed changes such as on neighbourhood renewal funding, supporting groups of local authorities in city regions and how Regional Development Agencies function are bound to have some impact.

More information, including link to the report and press release, on HM Treasury.

The chief executive of Shelter gives a good commentary in last week’s Society Guardian on the dilemmas of taking on public service contracts, the culture change and pressures.

Widely seen as ‘just’ a campaigning organisation, Shelter has been providing housing advice for many years. http://society.guardian.co.uk/voluntary/story/0,,2128458,00.html.

(Editor’s declaration of bias - I have volunteered with South East Housing Aid)

The Performance Hub is looking for examples of practice to feature in a new guide on user involvement for smaller voluntary organisations.

See http://www.performancehub.org.uk/news.asp?id=931&pageno=1.

Futurebuilders, the body which invests government funds in developing the capacity of charities to deliver public services, launched a report ‘Is Futurebuilders Working?’ at a conference of the same name last week (4th July).

At time of writing is wasn’t yet available on their web site (http://www.futurebuilders-england.org.uk), so we can only refer you to Third Sector news item at http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/668354/ (registration required), which emphasises the need for urgent change in public sector contracting.

There’s also an interview with chief executive Richard Gutch on Society Guardian which gives a good overview of how Futurebuilders operates and its success and failures over its first 3 years - http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,2117376,00.html.

‘Using the Community Interest Company model in the housing sector: A marriage in the making?’ is a new study from Joseph Rowntree Foundation of how the CIC model might be used in the housing sector.

http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/details.asp?pubID=897.

The future of Community Development Finance Institutions is uncertain as government and policy-makers have begun to question their impact through investing in disadvantaged areas.

That’s according to a report from the New Economics Foundation, ‘Reconsidering UK community development finance’, which provides a comprehensive assessment of their effectiveness. It concludes that given the right support they do have a major role to play.

See http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_PublicationDetail.aspx?pid=239 - the pdf download is 876kb. Third Sector news item at http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/666286/ (registration required).

The National Consumer Council has published ‘Delivering public services: Service users’ experiences of the third sector’, which it states is the first in-depth national study of third sector delivery. The report “unpicks what tenants, older people and job seekers think about their services” and, although the voluntary sector plays an important role in the delivery of public services, it may not always be the best solution for consumers. Read more, and download the pdf (314kb) from http://www.ncc.org.uk/cgi-bin/kmdb10.cgi/-load863017_nccviewcurrent.htm. Society Guardian opinion piece ‘Voluntary sector and the dangers of hype’ at http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,2106406,00.html.

And Third Sector reports (http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/664981/, registration required) that union representatives last week told Parliament’s public administration select committee inquiry ‘Commissioning Public Services from the Third Sector’ that increased competition among charities for contracts would result in poorer working conditions and training opportunities for staff as organisations try to slash costs. While the transcript of the evidence from Amicus (now part of Unite) isn’t yet there, you can see their written submission along with everybody else’s (in pdf format, 1.22MB but may grow).