Office of the Third Sector Homepage
Last updated: 30 November 2008
Welcome to the first online newsletter from the Office of the Third Sector, your update on third sector related policy developments.
We hope that this will become a helpful regular source of information for you and are keen to further develop the content in the new year. We are always interested in your feedback so please send your suggestions about the format and content to OTS.newsfeedback@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
There's plenty to talk about in this issue, with the launches of two action plans and the implementation of the Charities Act high on our news agenda. Ed Miliband, Minister for the Third Sector also outlines his vision, following six months in post, and we also have initial views from our new Director General, Campbell Robb, about what he wants the Office of the Third Sector to achieve.
Seasons greetings from all in the Office of the Third Sector.
Ed Miliband was appointed Minister for the Third Sector in May 2006. The move to create a ministerial position to champion the sector has been widely welcomed and has put the work of third sector organisations high on the Government's agenda.
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Campbell Robb, the new Director General of the Office of the Third Sector, arrived on November 20. He's looking forward to making a difference in the Office of the Third Sector that he calls: "a small unit with big aims".
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The recently launched Social Enterprise Action Plan: Scaling New Heights lays firm foundations for a new era of social awareness in business and commerce.
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December 6 saw the launch of Partnership in Public Services: An Action Plan for Third Sector Involvement, which aims to make it easier for third sector organisations to work with central and local government.
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As part of the Pre-Budget Report on December 6, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, issued the Government's interim report to the largest ever government consultation with the third sector.
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Office of the Third Sector announces timetable for implementing the Charities Act 2006.
Implementation of the Charities Act 2006 - the most significant change to charity law for over 400 years - will start in early 2007. The programme is designed to give charities time to prepare for any changes that will affect them, while bringing in de-regulatory changes as quickly as possible. This should ensure that the sector continues to enjoy a high level of public confidence.
One of the first steps will be the publication of a Plain English Guide to the Charities Act, produced in association with the Charity Commission, followed by a series of regional events. During 2007 there will also be consultations with the sector on the detailed regulations required for implementing other parts of the Act.
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The latest Compact annual review underlines the drive towards better partnership working, public services and the engagement of communities.
The seventh annual review of the Compact on Relations between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) took place on November 22.
The review, which was chaired by Ed Miliband and Sir Christopher Kelly, Chair of Compact Voice, considered the challenges facing the relationship between both sectors, and the priorities for the coming year. Ministers, officials, sector representatives and the new Commissioner for the Compact, John Stoker, took part.
The resulting action plan will support better partnership working and consolidate the sector's role in empowering and engaging communities, and in influencing and delivering high-quality public services.
The Compact is a co-working agreement between Government and the VCS.
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The Government's response to the Better Regulation Commission (BRC) Report underlines its commitment to implementing a better regulation agenda for the third sector.
The Government has fully or partly accepted 10 of the 11 recommendations in the BRC report Better Regulation for Civil Society, published in November 2005. It also agreed to take forward the five areas of further work also highlighted.
The response, which was published by the OTS in November, re-stated the Government's commitment to cutting red tape for the third sector, and emphasised that a number of the Report's recommendations and areas for further work are already being implemented.
Other steps include a number of de-regulatory changes in the Charities Act, and the development of Simplification Plans for all government departments to reduce regulatory burdens on charities and the voluntary sector.
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The Local Government White Paper aims to give local people and communities more influence and power.
The Local Government White Paper wants to ensure that all local authorities are in a position to develop positive and productive relationships with the third sector. For the first time, thanks to close government partnership working from the OTS, the White Paper dedicated a chapter to how local government should work with the third sector to empower local communities, particularly in relation to hard-to-reach groups. It also looked at how councils could involve the sector in local decisions, make the best possible use of the sector's ability to deliver tailored public services, and invest in the capacity of small organisations to meet the needs of communities.
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Capacitybuilders set out how they intend to deliver on the ChangeUp vision of 2014 for a transformed VCS, and how they will work with the sector to draw up the strategy to achieve this vision.
On 7 December Capacitybuilders, the agency set up to manage one of the Office of the Third Sector’s key funding programmes, ChangeUp, hosted an event at the RAF Museum in London, setting out how it will deliver on the ChangeUp vision of 2014.
The event launched a consultation asking for views from across the third sector, with particular reference to the priorities Capacitybuilders should adopt in meeting its vision and strategic objectives. The consultation will include consulting with the sector on future priorities for national support services.
At a Capacitybuilders board meeting in November the board also committed to a package of proposals designed to change the way it delivers national support services to the third sector. Capacitybuilders will be directly commissioning organisations next spring to take responsibility for delivering essential national services to the sector.
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A new centre of excellence to lead research into philanthropy and charitable giving was launched on 16 October.
The Centre, launched by Ed Miliband, has been established to lead research into philanthropy and charitable giving. It is the UK's first independent, multidisciplinary Charitable Giving and Philanthropy Research Centre, and was created as a joint initiative between the Office of the Third Sector, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Carnegie UK Trust and the Scottish Executive. The centre has been given initial funding of £2 million.
A consultation with key stakeholders, lead by Carnegie UK Trust, will take place until January 2007, while a call for outline proposals for the centre's work will take place in April 2007.
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The Give More, Get More campaign, launched on December 5, aims to raise awareness of volunteering among people claiming benefits.
As part of the Office of the Third Sector's Volunteering for All programme which aims to tackle barriers to volunteering and raise the profile of volunteer opportunities to excluded communities, the campaign's main message is that your benefit payments won't be affected by volunteer work, and that reasonable expenses, such as travel and lunch are often also paid to volunteers on tight budgets. The rules have been clarified, so that anyone on benefits who is considering volunteering can be sure that they won't lose their benefits.
Marketing activity includes advertising, radio promotions and community outreach, as well as a high-profile launch event that was attended by Ed Miliband and 100 volunteers. Starbucks donated coffee and sandwiches to underline the issue of lunch expenses, while the entertainment was provided by the Samba Street Soccer School, a Tai Chi display, Chinese Painting and a performing arts group run by and for people with mental health issues.
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A valuable resource of information has been published for anyone looking to establish a corporate foundation.
The report, Revealing the Foundations: A Guide to Corporate Foundations in England and Wales, contains extensive information on the number, role and funding activities of corporate foundations.
It also promotes a greater understanding of why corporate foundations are set up, and the factors that influence the appropriate model for each business. As well as highlighting the uniqueness of each foundation, the report's findings also contain valuable lessons for those considering setting up their own, and can be used to inform future projects for companies involved in charitable giving.
The report stems from Office of the Third Sector's Charitable Giving Strategy A Generous Society and was financed by the Charities Aid Foundation and the OTS, while all research was conducted by The SMART Company.
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The independent, youth-led charity v, one of the Office of the Third Sector's strategic partners, is well on the way to reaching its £50m target.
v has been given the task of raising £50 million from the private sector over three years, which will be matched pound for pound by the Exchequer. As of October 2006, v's total stands at £17.1 million raised for match fund projects.
To date, £3.4million has been drawn down from these pledges, which has funded an assortment of projects that have helped to create around 19,500 volunteering opportunities for young people aged 16-25.
v, borne out of the Russell Commission, was launched in May 2006 to transform the quality and quantity of volunteering opportunities for young people, and aims to encourage 1 million more young people to volunteer over the next five years.
Terry Ryall, Chief Executive, said:
'Match-funding provides a unique way for the private and voluntary sectors to work in partnership to inspire a new generation of young volunteers. These new relationships will have a genuinely sustainable effect on communities, giving young people the opportunity to learn new skills and develop a real sense of citizenship.'
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