If you would like to know what’s going on in Solihull for families, then check out the latest newsletter from Solihull Council’s Family Information Service as it’s full of interesting news and events.  Please pass this newsletter onto parents.

Download the Parents’ Network Newsletter- Jan 2012

To receive the newsletter regularly sign up to the Parents’ Network at www.solihull.gov.uk/parentsnetwork

On the council website there are now two reports showing how the council is meeting national equalities duties. These reports are about the council as an employer and as a service provider and are available on the Equality and Diversity pages of our website under ‘public sector equality duties’

The report about the council as an employer shows the make up of the workforce and the things being done to support its diverse workforce and the second report looks at the council as a service provider and covers the things being done to make sure services are provided fairly.

NCVO’s Counting the Cuts research shows, the voluntary and community sector nationally is set to lose around £911 million in public funding a year until 2015–16. In response to this, NCVO has produced a quick guide to help organisations challenge cuts where they believe the decision was made unfairly.  The main things you need to know are:

Best Value Guidance

In 2011, new Best Value Guidance was introduced by the Department for Communities and Local Government. It has statutory force, which means that the guidance must be taken into account by local authorities when they are making funding decisions. It applies to all local authorities.

What You Need to Know

• At least three months’ notice needs to be given to an organisation and service users when funding is to be withdrawn or reduced
• A local authority should actively engage the organisation and service users as early as possible before making a decision on the future of the service
• Authorities should seek to avoid passing on disproportionate reductions – i.e. they should not make larger reductions to the voluntary and community sector than they take on themselves
• Authorities should be responsive to the benefits and needs of voluntary and community sector organisations of all sizes (honouring the commitments set out in Local Compacts)

The Compact

The Compact is an agreement aiming to ensure that the Government and civil society organisations can work most effectively in partnership. Clear expectations and undertakings of what each partner will do are set out and committed to.

What You Need to Know

• The Compact is a national agreement, renewed by the coalition government in December 2010 and covers central government departments
• Nearly all local areas have their own Compact agreed between the local authority and voluntary and community sector – often using the national Compact as their basis, they are shaped to reflect the particular needs of the local area
• Key undertakings common to nearly all Compacts are a recognition of the need to give at least three months’ notice of funding cuts; conduct consultations for a 12 week period; and respect for the independence of voluntary sector organisations

Public Law

Public bodies, including local authorities and central government departments have to abide by a set of legal rules which regulate their public functions.

What You Need to Know

• A public body must ask itself the right questions and take into account relevant information when making a decision – when considering whether to make a funding cut, this means that they must have consulted groups that will be affected
• The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to
  eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities.
• When deciding whether to reduce or cut funding the public body must show how they have understand how different people will be affected by their decision – this is often done through an Equality Impact Assessment

An unfair decision by a public body can be challenged through a judicial review process in the courts, although there are strict guidelines and timescales that must be followed.

Overall

When talking about ‘unfair’ funding cuts remember the focus is on how the decision has been made, not what the decision is – you may be unhappy about a decision that has been made, but it is only ‘unfair’ if it has not been made in the right way.

Make sure you’ve looked at your local Compact and understand the Best Value Guidance – if a decision is made to reduce or withdraw your funding then it’s best to know in advance what will make a decision unfair so you are prepared

If you think a decision is unfair then act quickly – write to the public body setting out your concerns with the decision and asked for it to be looked at again

If you are unsure whether a decision is unfair or would like some further advice contact the Compact Advocacy programme on 020 7520 2460 or daniel.fluskey@ncvo-vol.org.uk or download a printable version of the NCVO cuts guide

Thousands of people have your email address and you may have thousands of email addresses, but:

• Did you ever give your email address to those people?
• Did you give someone else permission to share it?
• Have you got permission to share other peoples email addresses?

Probably not.

When email addresses are put in the To: field of an email, they are immediately visible to everyone on that circulation list and sometimes automatically stored in your email address book.

You could be in breach of the data protection act if you do this, but there is a simple solution, use the Bcc: field, like this:

The recipients then only see their own address or ‘undisclosed recipients’

An Alternative

If you are a regular sender of bulk emails, you might want to consider email services like the one used by SUSTAiN. We use and recommend MailChimp, it is secure, easy to use and has a free version that’s suitable for most users. We are not sponsored by MailChimp, we just really like it.

Source: read this Guardian article on email and data protection

A Sensory Success Story

When Sue Ingram’s severely disabled son Jamie attended an adult respite home for the first time, Sue was astonished at the lack of space available.  There was nowhere for Jamie to just relax, to just be a 16 year old boy and enjoy time with friends or enjoy the outside world. The garden at the back of the home was, in Sue’s words “ a concrete jungle”. With mould plastic chairs and overgrown grass, it was not exactly the exciting, attractive space Jamie and the home needed.

After hearing how Solihull Hospital had been successful in their bid for lottery funding Sue decided to apply to the Awards for All programme through her community organisation Club 22. Club 22 is a group of parents with teenagers and adults of similar disabilities who share experiences and seek money and support to provide the facilities so desperately needed. Sue applied to the Big Lottery Fund’s Awards for All programme and was overjoyed when she found out Club 22’s application for a sensory garden was successful.

With £10,000 of funding “our own special garden was now a reality” says Sue.

The garden was designed by a specialist landscape architect and has improved the existing environment substantially, turning it into a safe and more stimulating space for beneficiaries to relax in. Organisers say visitors can enjoy observing the moving stars and reflections, watching the fibre optic colour changes, feeling the many textures and playing with the wooden dashboard style controls. Special features include sensory plants and a water feature. “The garden has been a fantastic success which is now used by people outside of the home who also have special needs. It really is a place of our own” says Sue.

To find out more about the Awards for All programme and how you can apply, please visit the Awards for All website

We were delighted that The Mayor, Councillor Irene Chamberlain was able to officially open the volunteer centre at Chelmsley Wood on Wednesday 30 November. She was joined by over 20 representatives of the various groups and organisations that are working together to ensure the successful development of this exciting new project.

The Chelmsley Wood Volunteer Centre is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm for drop-in enquiries as well as appointments for anyone wanting to find a volunteering opportunity.

Organisations wishing to promote their volunteering opportunities are also encouraged to contact the centre.

Contact the Chelmsley Wood Volunteer Centre

Chelmsley Wood Volunteer Centre
Solihull Connect Office
West Mall
Bluebell Centre
Chelmsley Wood
B37 5TN
(Near to Asda and library)

Tel: 0121 704 6789
Email: volunteering@svcuk.org

Back in October you completed a survey about the support services you needed and that information is has already been used to help us make a bid for funding from the Cabinet Office’s Transforming Local Infrastructure fund.

According to the survey, many of you are looking for support in things like business planning, forging links with the private sector, finance, funding advice, governance, HR, PR & marketing and all sorts of training.

We are currently looking at how we can meet these support needs across and within the sector, but there is also support available outside the sector.

Solihull Council and other statutory and private sector organisations are now running ‘Employer Supported Volunteering’ (ESV) schemes. ESV is the term used to describe all forms of volunteering carried out by employees which are supported by their employer (ref: Volunteer England).

The scheme at Solihull Council entitled ‘Sharing our Skills’ allows staff to take up to three days (22 hours) a year, out of their day job, to support our Voluntary and Community Sector.

Solihull Council employees have a wealth of skills, knowledge and experience that they are ready to share with you.  In addition to the areas that came out in the survey, their staff can also offer support in administration, archiving, child welfare, IT, legal, project management, research plus other practical skills like cooking, DIY and listening. 

Initially Solihull Council employees will only be able to offer a maximum of 3 days as part of their working week but some may wish to continue to volunteer with organisations in their own time.

The Volunteer Centre, who is acting as a broker for ESV in the borough, would welcome your short term opportunities for employees looking for volunteering roles in Solihull. Opportunities can be for any duration up to 22 hours, for individuals or groups. These can be completed in one block of time or spread over a number of weeks to suit your needs.

To register your opportunities now, please complete a simple ESV opportunity registration form, which you can download below, and we will do the rest!

 Download the ESV Registration form here

For more information, contact Maureen Shepherd on 0121 711 3148 or email maureen.shepherd@wayc2.org

A new report “Pathways through Participation” has been issued by the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR). The report looks at why people get involved in their local communities, what makes them stop and how does their involvement change over their lifetime.

The final report and summary report can be found on the Pathways to Participation website.

The IVR is a research and consultancy agency specialising in volunteering.  It is an initiative of Volunteering England in partnership with Birbeck, University of London and  Their latest e-newsletter is now available.

The September 2011 bulletin from the Children & Young Peoples Trust is now out.

Download it here

SUSTAiN, Enable, the SILC Consortium, Young Solihull (aka SCVYS) and Sport Solihull are working in partnership to secure funding aimed at strengthening infrastructure support services for charities, voluntary organisations, community groups, sports clubs and youth organisations in the borough.

We need your help to ensure that our project application is matched to your needs.

Please spare a few minutes telling us what you need.

Thank you

Click for Online Survey