News & Information Roundup

Government Pledges support the Voluntary and Community Sector through the recession
The Government has pledged to release an action plan setting out how it will support the sector through the recession. The commitment was made after a meeting between third sector minister Kevin Brennan and representatives of 25 sector bodies in November 08, including the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo) and the Charities Aid Foundation.

There was no immediate response to the 16 proposals put forward by chief executives body Acevo before the meeting, including a request for a new £500m scheme to help charities stay solvent. The meeting discussed reforming Gift Aid, setting up a social investment bank and extending the 10-year deadline for balancing the books in pension schemes.

The meeting also discussed ways the sector could help itself, such as developing toolkits, increasing collaboration, reducing overheads with IT and using mediation to minimise the fallout of redundancies.

Brennan said: "It is clear that the Government can also play an important role to support the sector. We have discussed some very constructive and realistic proposals today, which I will consider carefully."

Communities and Local Government (London) (CLG) £11m to help London councils unlock their housing markets
London councils have secured nearly £11m pounds as part of £101m allocated to help local authorities in England maintain the building of the family and first-time buyer homes still desperately needed.

The 2008-09 Housing and Planning Delivery Grant (HPDG) will provide for the first-time additional direct funding top up for councils to ensure that new homes are built where families need them. The Government has already announced a series of measures to alleviate the current challenges in the housing market and support the vital delivery of more homes over the long-term.

This new incentive will ensure that councils are able to be responsive (given the current economic climate) deliver good-quality homes quickly, properly identifying land for homes to help hard-working families and give the house-building industry greater certainty around development proposals.

Allocations to London councils under the 2008/09 HPDG are as follows:
Barking & Dagenham - £145,483
Barnet - £336,563
Bexley - £93,469
Brent - £544,131
Bromley - £83,132
Camden - £128,995
City of London - £92,267
Croydon - £138,926
Ealing - £128,995
Enfield - £118,658
Greenwich - £889,212
Hackney - £347,003
Hammersmith & Fuham - £129,867
Haringey - £142,474
Harrow - £128,995
Havering - £684,199
Hillingdon - £139,333
Hounslow - £476,973
Islington - £456,923
Kensington & Chelsea - £81,275
Kingston-upon-Thames - £118,658
Lambeth - £161,908
Lewisham - £108,906
Merton - £118,658
Newham - £216,670
Redbridge - £1,391,132
Richmond-upon-Thames - £336,563
Southwark - £608,000
Sutton - £139,333
Tower Hamlets - £1,683,359
Waltham Forest - £155,055
Wandsworth - £457,121
Westminster - £193,968

In order to be eligible, local authorities must show progress on: continuing to provide suitable land for development over future years, particularly as the housing market recovers from current economic challenges; providing the local plans necessary to deliver the needed homes; carrying out a strategic assessment of their housing market.
A £1billion package of support was recently announced that will help first-time buyers in England facing difficulties entering the market; support vulnerable households at risk from repossession; and deliver more affordable homes sooner; while also helping the house-building industry. A further £410m will be made available over the subsequent two years of the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant (HPDG) scheme.

The National Equality Partnership
The National Equality Partnership is working on:
 Education initiatives run by and for ‘minorities within minorities’, to target the more excluded groups;
 Equality audit peer learning project, to be launched in the new year;
 Bespoke and open training and learning events;
 One-to-one support to umbrella organisations;
 Support to pan-equality networks and partnerships;
 Development of its resources and contacts databases in equality, diversity and human rights.

If you are interested in the above initiatives and/or have any ideas that you would like to discuss with the National Equality Partnership on how to advance equality and diversity in your sector, please do not hesitate to contact them. If you would like to know more about the National Equality Partnership, please visit: www.improvingsupport.org.uk/equality

New ‘European Council on Refugees and Exiles’ (ECRE) website
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles has launched a new website.
Visit the new ECRE website

European Year Against Poverty
It has been confirmed that 2010 will be the European Year Against Poverty and Social Exclusion. A variety of national and European-wide activities are currently being planned. The European Anti Poverty Network have produced plans to ensure 2010 really makes a difference to people living in poverty.
See: www.eapn.eu/content/view/65/34/lang,en/