Health committee recommends joined-up social care commissioning
The key to securing better outcomes for older people and other vulnerable groups is joined-up services, MPs on the Health Select Committee have said.
Charities often deliver services through funding agreements with a local authority, NHS Primary Care Trust or even a government department.
Though still a relatively new phenomenon, encouragement from government has made public service delivery and reform an increasingly common activity for charities.
The key to securing better outcomes for older people and other vulnerable groups is joined-up services, MPs on the Health Select Committee have said.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has saved the Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit in a groundbreaking £100,000 funding agreement.
The legal hearing regarding the future of Gloucestershire's NHS services has been set for 8 February.
The Welsh government has suspended all public funding to the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association, until an investigation into alleged abuse of charitable funds is completed.
Large charities including NSPCC, RSPCA and the Red Cross have been talking about how to alter public perception that the Big Society is all about big charities guzzling up public sector contracts.
Public service delivery - five issues for boards to consider
Caroline Cooke from the Charity Commission outlines five points charities should consider when delivering public services as part of a consortium.
Public service delivery social enterprise 3SC has developed a bespoke web portal to enable its partner organisations to carry out needs-assessment reports for the Department for Work and Pensions.
Umbrella bodies have welcomed the creation of the £1bn government fund to tackle youth unemployment but stress that the voluntary sector must be involved in its delivery.
Amendments proposed by Labour to the Public Services (Social Value) Bill, which include a requirement for direct consultation with the Charity Commission, Acevo, NCVO and others, could provide greater safeguards for not-for-profit involvement in the public service contracting process.
Navca and the Local Government Association have launched a free guide for charity trustees about commissioning and tendering for public services, as part of Trustees’ Week.
Former Communities Secretary Hazel Blears MP has called for a legal definition for social enterprises, while minister for civil society Nick Hurd has conceded that such a definition may be required.
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbott, president of NCVO and chair of the Red Tape Task Force, has called on umbrella bodies, such as NCVO, Acevo and Navca, to set up and manage charity consortia which can bid for public sector contracts.
Two more influential membership organisations have lined up to condemn the execution of the Work Programme, heaping yet more pressure on the Work and Pensions minister responsible for the scheme.
Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has written an open letter to the sector that seeks to explain the “strategic framework” underpinning the government’s recent policy initiatives.
Over 100 charity sub-contractors have joined the National Council for Voluntary Organisations special interest group to submit concerns over the viability of the Work Programme to employment minister Chris Grayling.
The National Youth Agency has launched a consultation to discover the level of support within the sector for an Institute for Youth Work.
The sector independence inquiry launched by the Baring Foundation is deeply flawed and will be a wasted opportunity unless its terms and methodology are completely revised, according to one of the responses to the inquiry consultation.
Charities that run prisons should have their charitable status revoked, according to Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform.
The Public Administration Select Committee has warned that the Big Society agenda will fail as civil servants do not have the skills to implement it, and there is a reluctance to do the reforms.
The Big Lottery Fund has appointed a consortium led by Catch 22 as the preferred partner to run its £25m Realising Ambition progamme, which will focus on support for young people at risk of offending.
The Panel on the Independence of the Voluntary Sector has launched a consultation inviting sector views on the state of the sector’s independence.
Sector commentators have largely welcomed the Open Public Services White Paper, recognising that the reforms have the potential to create unprecedented opportunity for civil society organisations to deliver more public services.
The government says it will encourage commissioners of public services to break up contracts into smaller lots “where appropriate” to enable smaller providers to participate in service delivery.
Charity Finance editor Andrew Hind has joined a new independent panel of sector leaders who will examine and report on the sector’s independence over the next five years.
Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, told a select committee meeting yesterday that grants were "problematic" for the sector and that contracts were preferable.
Despite pessimism for the financial situation of their organisations, 82 per cent of charities plan to retain or increase the extent of services they offer, according to the NCVO's latest Charity Forecast Survey, published today.
Sue Ryder is to sell off its English homecare business to Allied Healthcare, the Nasdaq-listed health and social care provider, in a move that will see the charity totally exit the social homecare market in England after nearly 20 years.
The National Audit Office has raised concerns about NHS staff using the Right to Request scheme to create social enterprises, highlighting “risks to value for money”.
An Oxford charity is threatening to take the county council to the Local Government Ombudsman because of the way its tendering process for a contract to provide support to adult carers was carried out.
The National Coalition for Independent Action has issued a policy paper claiming that the use of contracts rather than grants is leading to “the destruction of the voluntary sector”.