Register of Lobbyists

Natalie Maidment | 2:20 pm, 23 January 2012

So the Government have launched another consultation, this time about whether to introduce a register of lobbyists. There is currently no regulation in the UK around lobbying the Government and the proposed register would require an individual or organisation to be registered before their lobby will be considered by Government.

Having spent 2 1/2 years on a project which looks at the barriers to influencing policy this proposal worries me that smaller organisations will be faced with yet another heardle to lobbying the Government especially as there will be a registration fee imposed. The purpose of this register would be to create transparency but I do wonder if it is just another layer of bureaucracy which groups would need to overcome before having their voice heard.

What are your thoughts about this – have your say at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/Introducing%20a%20Statutory%20Register%20of%20Lobbyists.pdf by 13th April.

Posted in Campaigning, In the news, Policy and Representation Partnership, Uncategorised | Comments (0)

North East’s most influential Twitter users

Carrie Brookes | 12:23 pm, 19 January 2012

Twitter, the social media tool, is becoming an increasingly useful way to reach people of influence.  One retweet from an influential Twitter user can send your message through to thousands of followers, even go global.  With this in mind I have gathered a list here of who I believe to be the North East’s most influential Twitter users in the fields of media, policy, politics and the third sector. There are many more sectors I could have included like business, sport, arts but have tried to keep the list manageable in size.

Every day new people join Twitter so this list will no doubt grow and change. Have I got it right? Who have I missed? Tell me in the comments section below or through Twitter at @VONNEnews.

This list was printed in our special edition magazine ‘The VINE‘ which looks at The State of the North East 2012.  Members of VONNE receive a free copy or you can download it.

Third Sector

• Big Lottery Fund North East @BIGNorthEast
• Catalyst Stockton @Catalyst2010
• Children North East @ChildrenNE
• National Energy Action @NEA_UKCharity
• Newcastle CVS @newcastlecvs
• Northern TUC @northerntuc
• St Oswalds Hospice @stoswaldsuk
• The Cyrenians @thecyrenians

Journalists

• Adrian Pearson, Regional Affairs, The Journal @adrian_pearson
• Brian Aitken, Editor, The Journal @brianjnled
• Gerry Foley, Political Correspondent for ITV Tyne Tees @ITVFOLEY
• Kenny Toal, ITV Tyne Tees News @kennytoalitv
• Peter Barron, Editor Northern Echo @EchoPeterBarron
• Richard Moss, BBC Politics Show @BBCRichardMoss
• Sharon Barbour, BBC Look North @sharonbarbour
• William Green, Politics Editor, The Journal @politicseditor

Politics

• Alex Cunningham, MP for Stockton North @ACunninghamMP
• Bridget Phillipson, MP for Houghton & Sunderland South @bphillipsonMP
• Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle North & Shadow Minister for Children & Young Families @CatMcKinnellMP
• Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central & Shadow Minster for Innovation & Science @ChiOnwurah
• David Miliband, MP for South Shields @DMiliband
• Grahame Morris, MP for Easington County Durham @grahamemorris
• Guy Opperman,  MP for Hexham @GuyOppermanMP
• Helen Goodman, MP for Bishop Auckland and Shadow Media Minister @HelenGoodmanMP
• Jenny Chapman, MP For Darlington @JennyChapman
• Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council @NCC_Leader @nick_forbes
• Pat Glass, MP for North West Durham, @PatGlassMP
• Roberta Blackman-Woods MP for Durham City and Shadow Minister for Planning @robertabw
• Tom Blenkinsop MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland @TomBlenkinsop
• Pat Glass, MP for North West Durham @PatGlassMP

Policy Influencers

• Balance North East, North East Alcohol Office @BalanceNE
• Ed Cox, IPPR North @edcox_ippr
• James Ramsbotham, North East Chamber of Commerce @NECCTwiTer
• Jeremy Cripps, Chief Executive Children North East @jeremycripps
• Neil Foster, Trade unionist and political campaigner @neilrfoster
• North East Child Poverty Commission @nechildpoverty
• Public Health Intelligence North East @PHINEonline
• Rob Williamson, Chief Executive, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland @RobCFTyne
• Ross Smith, Head of Policy and Research at NECC @Ross_Smith_NECC

Posted in Social Media | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Stop this unfair news tax on charities

Carrie Brookes | 10:42 am, 18 January 2012

CharityComms has launched a campaign this week to exempt charities from paying a fee for sharing online news articles. I am wholeheartedly behind this campaign which seems grossly unfair and an unnecessary burden on charities at a time when many are closing down due to funding cuts. Im also very disappointed to see The Guardian in with other newspapers behind bringing in this charge which goes against their usually positive approach to the sector including its Guardian Voluntary Sector Network website.

The Newspaper Licensing Association is the body that raises £26m a year in copyright fees of which about £1.3m comes from charities.  The NLA is owned by the UK’s eight major newspaper groups (Associated Newspapers, Financial Times, Guardian Media Group, Independent News and Media, Northern and Shell, News International, Daily Telegraph and Trinity Mirror). The NLA’s running costs account for about a quarter of all that is raised, and the rest is distributed between 1,400 newspapers.  Charities already pay a licensing fee to the NLA for sharing printed news content i.e. photocopies or printouts of newspaper articles.

They have a counter-argument to CharityComms attack which is presented in the Guardian saying a free licence for charities is “unrealistic and unfair”. I don’t agree with their assertion that they are providing a useful service with monitoring tools, as this is a service they charge for.  I have some sympathy for wanting to raise some revenue for newspapers as many are struggling in this new digital age.

However I don’t agree with charging charities for sharing digital content with their supporters, for the same reasons that Vicky Browning, Director of CharityComms has given:

  • Charities are paying to get their own coverage back.
  • Charities’ coverage is mainly local, but the NLA forces them to pay for national licences.
  • Media licensing is not cheap. CharityComms research shows that it typically costs £1 for every article copied, and the largest charities are paying over £10,000 for media licensing. There is a charity discount, but this fixed at £158 no matter how big the fee.
  • Why should charities pay when individuals can circulate articles freely?

 

I have an additional reason though. In 2009 I was contacted by a VONNE member who was pursued for payment by the NLA with daily emails and phonecalls demanding payment for photocopying newspaper articles and threatened with prosecution.  We shared this cautionary tale with other members, some who shared this experience and had thought it was a hoax agency such was their approach.

If you agree with CharityComms on the unfairness of this fee you can add your support in the following ways:

“email vicky@charitycomms.org.uk, and share your views and experiences in the comments section of The Guardian article, below this post and on our Facebook page. We’ve also had coverage in PR Week and Third Sector, so feel free to comment on those stories too. You can also share on Twitter using #copyrightfees.”

Posted in Campaigning, Communications, In the news, Social Media, Support for sector | Tagged , | Comments (2)

How will the NHS reform affect your organisation

Natalie Maidment | 8:25 am, 18 January 2012

Yesterday I attended a workshop as part of Community Action on Health and Newcastle CVS’ research to find out how the VCS think the NHS reforms in Newcastle will affect them.

The discussion started promising as the results from the GP research was shared; 26 out of the 31 respondents said they believed the VCS does have a role to play however this was short lived when you start to examine this further. There are 200 GP’s in Newcastle and in reality those who took the time to complete the survey are those who are more likely to be engaged with the sector, if all 200 GP’s had completed it the balance would most definetely shift.

Each participant had a lot of tales and ideas to share and the more we talked the bigger the challenges looked. There seemed to be a theme that when organisations work with GP’s the work gets to a certain point and the momentum is lost. Lin from CAOH has a hard task in front of her to be able to produce a report from these sessions and produce some recommendations.

If you work in Newcastle and have missed these events there is still a chance to have your input by completing this survey at  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/nhsreformvcs by Friday 3rd February.

If you need the survey in an alternative format please do not hesitate to contact Lin@caoh.org.uk as a few of us in the room learnt yesterday that many people who are deaf leave school with a reading age of 9 and require information translating into BSL.

This project is one of the policy topics funded through the Policy and Representation Partnership; you can find out about the 5 others at http://www.vonne.org.uk/policy/partnership/policytopics/?flink=800

Posted in Campaigning, Policy and Representation Partnership | Comments (0)

Well, I didn’t see that coming…

Joanne Smithson | 9:52 pm, 4 January 2012

Did you?  So Andrew Lansley has decided that local HealthWatch should now come into effect in April 2013 and not this October as previously envisaged.  He’s also made it clear that Local Authorities are expected to continue to provide a Local Involvement Network (LINk) during 2012/13.

The official reason for this u-turn reflects “the need to align local Healthwatch closer to the establishment of other new bodies such as the Health and Wellbeing Boards”.

Unofficially, I’d suggest that most Local Authorities were a million miles away from where they needed to be.  And you can understand why.  Confusion from the Department of Health on the relationship between LINks and new Local HealthWatch, no money for the 75 Pathfinders announced earlier this year, and a delay in the set up of HealthWatch England, the body charged with providing leadership and support to Local Healthwatch organisations.

It’s good news that the three North East Pathfinders are finally going to receive some funding– but it’s disappointing that they’ve had to wait five months since the announcement in summer that they had Pathfinder status.

This new timetable gives local areas real space to innovate, collaborate and design a local HealthWatch that maximises involvement and ensures the voices of the public and patients really shape how local health services are run.  Let’s hope we use the time wisely.

Posted in Health and wellbeing | Comments (0)

Big Society under the microscope

Joanne Smithson | 9:43 pm, 18 December 2011

I had a really enjoyable morning on Thursday with a group of students from the BSc (Hons) course in Community and Public Health at the University of Sunderland.  As part of their module on the Politics of Health, Programme Leader Caron Walker asked me to lead a session on the Big Society.

Where to start?  I’m in favour of many of the central themes of Big Society: the shift of power from Whitehall to Town Hall, enabling a wider group of people to play an active role in their local community, support for social enterprises and cooperatives.  All fine by me.  I just fail to see how the Government’s current plans add value to what was already in place.

In the North East we’ve seen millions of pounds wiped from budgets targeting grass roots activity in health, regeneration, wellbeing, sport, leisure, and community networks.  And early outcomes from the Work Programme, championed by the Government as the Big Society in Action, appear to display all of the hallmarks of Top-Down Big Government.

Interestingly, the day before my visit to Sunderland, the Government’s Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) concluded its enquiry on the Big Society.  Its findings make uncomfortable reading for the coalition:

  • The Big Society is hampered by the lack of a clear implementation plan, leading to public confusion about the polity agenda;
  • Government must address the barriers charities and voluntary groups experience in the contracting and commissioning system;
  • There should be greater clarity on the roles of charitable, private and public providers of public services.

 

We had quite a lot to discuss really!

Speaking with the students over coffee, it was inspiring to hear about their volunteering, their passion for health and social care and their hopes for the future.  It’s a great course, and as responsibility for public health moves from the NHS to Local Government, one that should go from strength to strength.

Posted in Big Society, Health and wellbeing, Support for sector | Comments (0)

Flash mob highlights homeless

Jo Curry | 11:31 am, 16 December 2011

Just got back from the flash mob organised by The Cyreneans. The aim was to highlight the fact that people are homeless all of the year round and not just at Christmas time. I was pleased to be joined by my two kids, who I think now appreciate how freezing cold and miserable you get sitting in the street for 10 minutes let alone all night. I guess its purely anecdotal, but when I walk along Grey Street and Pilgrim Street, there are far more people begging than I remember a year ago. The austerity measures are hitting home.
Happy Christmas – Jo x

Posted in Uncategorised | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Rhetoric versus reality

Jo Whaley | 11:24 am, 6 December 2011

This last week I have been “Caring for our Future” the (now closing) Department of Health engagement around the future of adult social care across England. What has mostly struck me is the difference between the aspirations set out in the policy papers and the reality, on the ground, as experienced by provider organisations and the people they support. The papers look at ways to develop a high quality and personalised approach to care, delivered by a diverse and responsive care market. Yet the experience across the North East is that fewer people are able to access care, due to tightening of the Fair Access to Care criteria, budgets are being slashed- which reduces the ability of providers to invest in service development, and organisations and services are under threat of closure. Both NETS(work) – the North East third sector learning disability provider network and VONNE have fed this discrepancy into the engagement exercise- and will keep lobbying for improved services for the people the third sector supports across the North East. Come Spring, when the Adult Social Care White Paper is due to be published- it’ll be interesting to see if the rhetoric and the reality are any better matched.
Read VONNE and NETS(work) submissions to Caring for our Future: http://www.vonne.org.uk/policy/healthandwellbeing/consultations/index.php?flink=591

Posted in Uncategorised | Comments (0)

Caring for our Future

Joanne Smithson | 10:33 pm, 2 December 2011

It’s somewhat fitting that my first blog for VONNE comes on a rather special day.   Many of you will be aware that the Department of Health has invited people who use care and support services, carers, local councils, care providers and the voluntary & community sector to shape priorities for improving care and support.

It’s an issue that affects us all – we all know someone who has needed a bit extra care or support to continue to lead a full and active life.  From aids and adaptations in our homes, to more complex packages of care, receiving the right support, when you need it, can make life worth living.  And when we get it wrong, the consequences can be tragic.

There are so many reasons why the way we provide care and support has to change.  Yes, it’s true that society is changing – within 20 years the number of 85s will double, and the number of people living with life-long disabilities is likely to grow true.  The funding models we use today simply won’t cope with the increased need.

But, more fundamentally, it’s because we all have to work harder, together, to provide high quality personalised services, based on individual choice.  And we need to make sure that the most vulnerable, who need care and support services the most are protected.

Well, the closing date for feedback was today – so sorry if I’ve got you fired up and ready to respond.  If you’d like to read more about the issues that the community and voluntary sector have raised, you can read submissions from VONNE, NETS(work) and Regional Voices on our website.

Let me know what you think.  Did my response on behalf of VONNE highlight the key issues?  What did I miss?

And if you are still berating yourself for not responding; I’m sure there’ll be another chance soon.  The Government will be publishing its White Paper in spring 2012, and much as I’d like to dream we’d get it right first time – I’m sensing a future “engagement opportunity”.

 

Posted in Health and wellbeing | Comments (0)

The final countdown

Jane Cater | 10:41 am, 24 November 2011

Today is my last full day in the office and therefore my last blog. Although you may hear from me on here again on the 1st December should we be successful with our recent funding bid. Announcements are being made early next week so watch this space.

So I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked with me along my 6 and a half year journey at VONNE.  Its been an amazing learning experience and I have met some wonderful people.

I am taking away lots of happy memories and great friends.  I hope to cross paths with most of you in my next adventure. If you want to work with me in the future you can contact me on all the usual social media formats (fb, twitter, linkedin etc).

Au revoir!

Posted in Uncategorised | Comments (1)