Politics News
All change
It is too early to tell what impact the cabinet re-shuffle this week will have on the VCS. However, with Kevin Brennan taking over from Phil Hope as as Minster for the Third Sector, VCOs are bound to be wondering what this will mean. Both men have a strong background within the sector, but the differences within them are bound to affect their priorities. The larger impact that this will have on the sector will only show in the months to come, and with an election in the next 18 months, it ...
A government committed to change?
Last week Alastair Darling predicted that Britain is facing its worst economic slowdown for 60 years, and he partially apportioned the blame on the current government. This week the government introduced new loans for some first time buyers, and stamp duty breaks for a handful of properties in order to kick start the housing market. Next week, new steps to help fuel poverty will be announced. For all appearances, the Government seems to be working hard to improve the situation it holds...
That old chesnut: the North/South divide
You may have seen some of the media surrounding the Policy Exchange’s recent report Cities Unlimited. The authors Tim Leunig and James Swaffield have had outraged reactions to what people have seen as their recommended 'abandonment' of northern cities. Delve a little deeper into their report however and it contains food for thought. The authors look at the past development of cities, the government’s regeneration plans and whether these will create the future cities the government wants....
The Sub-National Review
Ippr have recently published a discussion paper on the Sub-National Review (SNR). Useful as both a summary and a prompt for further thought and action, the paper outlines the objectives of the SNR, and outlines positive and negative aspects of the decentralisation policy.
The SNR follows a global trend towards decentralisation, and a national move towards regionalisation. It was originally published in July 2007, but has been under consultation and review since, and is currently being...
An invitation to help local government prepare for tomorrow today
Local services to the public in the 21st century
The LGA and the Government Horizon Scanning Centre have started a wiki inviting contributions on how local services can meet the needs of the public in the 21st century. Keep an eye on this as it promises to be a rich resource, pulling together knowledge and ideas from those involved in both futures work and local and public services.
Their hopes for this website may well look familiar with those of you who use the NCVO Third Sector Foresight...
Nudge nudge…
Need a nudge? This seems to be the buzzword of the moment. The Conservatives view themselves as the British champions of this movement, and many other groups are embracing this as a method for change. Although not a new concept (first analysed in 1950s it was widely investigated by social psychologists in the 70s), it has only recently risen to prominence due to its popularity amongst certain high profile politicians.
Nudge influences change in a similar way to viral social change (small ...
Deliberative Public Engagement
Involve and the National Consumer Council have published a report Deliberative public engagement: nine principles.
The white paper, Communities in Control, extended and identified new requirements for local authorities in developing, responding to and promoting local democracy. (For further information and discussion on this white paper have a look at the blog from Dhara, Policy Officer at NCVO. Her post also includes a link to NCVO’s response to this white paper).
This report is intended to...
Disconnected Citizens
The Social Market Foundation has recently published a report, Disconnected Citizens: Is Community Empowerment the Solution? by Senior Research Fellow Jessica Prendergrast.
This report discusses how community empowerment and the participatory mechanisms which make it up, are seen as a panacea for many social problems - reducing crime, improving public health, creating cohesive communities and undoing disengagement with formal political processes.
The publication argues that while the value of
What might a Conservative government have in store for the VCS?
There has undoubtedly been a greater interest in the VCS from the Conservative party in recent years. This has been influenced by Cameron’s vision of Compassionate Conservatism and the work of the Social Justice Policy Group including their reports ‘Breakdown Britain’ and ‘Breakthrough Britain’. They have developed thinking on issues recently seen as the remit of the left such as social breakdown and justice, poverty and the environment; issues that are often a key concern for large parts of ...
The politics of public behaviour
Despite a retreat from the state in many traditional areas, the UK government is increasingly finding itself drawn into a variety of new personal challenges such as how much people eat, drink, travel, save or dispose of their personal waste. Across the political spectrum, behaviour change is increasingly underpinning policy programmes. One of the reasons for the emergence of this agenda is the growing sense that the intractable problems or ‘wicked issues’ in society (e.g. obseity or climate...
