VSNW's Conference and AGM 2016: Community Powered Change. Book now

This year's VSNW conference, Community Powered Change, will look at how, in the context of inclusive growth and devolution, communities can be the drivers of transformation. Keynote speakers and panellists include: Professor Ruth Lupton, Head of the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit, Kathy Evans, Chief Executive of Children England; Cllr Sean Anstee, potential Conservative candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor, Neil McInroy, Chief Executive of CLES, and Cllr Jean Stretton, Inclusive Growth lead for GMCA.

We will be partnering with CLES, Network for Europe, and colleagues from across academia, the public sector, and of course VCSE sector, to deliver workshops along three themes:

• Inclusive Growth: devolution, post-Brexit era social inclusion funding, regeneration in the North West, and measuring social success 
• Transforming the Voluntary Sector: Voluntary sector partnerships, the sector’s role in devolution, and investment strategies for the sector
• Health and Social Care: Social Movements for Health, Realising the Value, and Sustainability and Transformation Plans

The conference will take place on the 5th December, from 09.30 - 16.30 at the People's History Museum in Manchester. 

Places are limited, so please book using Eventbrite via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-powered-change-vsnws-annual-conference-2016-tickets-28721125660

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Agenda

9.30am Refreshments and Registration

10.00am   Introduction

Chair – Warren Escadale, Chief Executive, VSNW

Keynote speaker: Professor Ruth Lupton, Head of the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit 

Keynote speaker: Jim McMahon MP, Shadow Minister for Communities & Local Government and Devolution (invited)

Q&A with the speakers, Chaired by Debbie Dalby, VSNW Chair

11.00am Morning Workshops

Inclusive Growth for Communities

Economic regeneration in the North West: Matthew Jackson, Centre for Local Economic Strategies

Transforming the voluntary sector

Developing an investment strategy for the voluntary sector: Anne Lythgoe, Salford City Council

Health & Social Care 

The sector’s role in Sustainability and Transformation Plans: TBC

12.00pm Lunch, AGM, and Voluntary Action in Action Photo Competition

13.15pm Afternoon Workshops 1

Inclusive Growth for Communities

Measuring social success: Dr Anthony Rafferty, Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit

Transforming the voluntary sector

Building effective voluntary sector partnerships: Representatives from the Cumbria Third Sector Network, GM VCSE Reference Group and Liverpool City Region VS6. Chaired by Warren Escadale 

Health & Social Care 

Person and Community Centred Care for Wellbeing - Realising the Value: Chris Dabbs, Unlimited Potential and Simon Kweeday, Big Life Group

14.15pm Afternoon Workshops 2

Inclusive Growth for Communities

Funding social inclusion in a Brexit era: Andy Churchill & John Hacking, Network for Europe and  Gill Bainbridge, Merseyside Youth Association

Transforming the voluntary sector

The VCSE role in devolution: lessons from Sheffield, Cardiff, Greater Manchester, and Swansea: Dr David Beel, University of Sheffield 

Health & Social Care 

Social Movements for Health: Ben Gilchrist, VSNW & Action Together & other speaker TBC  

15.15pm Afternoon refreshments

15.30pm How will devolution transform communities? Panel discussion

Kathy Evans, Chief Executive of Children England

Cllr Sean Anstee, Conservative candidate for Greater Manchester Mayor

Neil McInroy, Chief Executive of Centre for Local Economic Strategies

Cllr Jean Stretton, GMCA lead for Inclusive Growth

Chair: Warren Escadale, Chief Executive of VSNW

16.20pm Round up and finish

Booking

Places are limited, and if more than one delegate wishes to attend from the same organisation they must book individually. Please book by Wednesday 30th November via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/community-powered-change-vsnws-annual-conference-2016-tickets-28721125660

If you are a VCSE organisation in the North West, the event is free to attend.

If you work for a non-VCSE organization or are an individual, the cost is £50 plus VAT per delegate. 

For any queries regarding the conference, please contact Sam Popper on 0161 276 9300 or at sam.popper@vsnw.org.uk.

CQC Inspections in the North West

CQC have announced upcoming hospital inspections for the next year in the North West. Care Quality Commission inspectors will be visiting the following hospitals, on the following dates:

• Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust - 27 September
• The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust - 27 September
• University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust - 11 October 

If you have been a patient or visitor to one of these hospitals in the past 12 months, then you are invited to share your experiences. To find out more about the inspections, please click on the relevant inspection above.

You can also share your experiences in a number of other ways:

Visiting CQC website link: www.cqc.org.uk/syemorecambebay

Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk 

Letter: CQC, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4PA

Phone: 03000 61 61 61

New survey looks at joint working between Jobcentres and VCSE organisations

VSNW has conducted a survey of VCSE agencies to understand the strength of relationships between Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise groups and Jobcentres, particularly where health and work initiatives are involved.

The results show that although there is some activity between the two, this is limited in most areas, and it is never at a strategic level.  The results also show divergent standards across localities, depending on individual relationships.

The five respondents unanimously agreed on three measures to improve joint working on health and work outcomes between Jobcentres and VCSE organisations:

• Co-working or co-location of Jobcentre Advisers with other community services
• New information standards to support monitoring of health and work issues
• More funding for specific VCSE-led services or initiatives to improve health and work together

The main barriers were mainly around Jobcentres having poor knowledge and understanding of VCSE services, and a lack of time and resources for both Jobcentres and VCSE organisations (shown below). 

VSNW conducted the survey on behalf of DWP’s Joint Health and Work Unit, who were interested in Health and Care Strategic Partners’ views on how well Jobcentres are working with VCSE organisations.

Warren Escadale, VSNW’s Chief Executive, commented: “At present, it seems evident that Jobcentres are not making the most of the holistic support on offer in the voluntary sector for the unemployed. However, it’s pleasing to see unanimity on measures to address this: co-working, improved information for Jobcentre staff, and specific funding streams for joint health and work initiatives.”

Government responds to letter from charities regarding the Lobbying Act

After over forty organisations, including VSNW, Children England, NCVO, and NAVCA, wrote to the Minister for Civil Society to express worries over the effect of the 2014 Lobbying Act on charities' activity, the Government has responded. The letter says the Government supports political campaigning of charities, albeit with a limited scope. 

The letter, which was written by Chris Skidmore MP in his role as Minister for the Constitution, outlined the extent to which the Government sees this type of activity as valuable, saying that: 

"The Government recognises that charities have the right to undertake campaigning and political activity where it supports their charitable aim, trustees consider it to be an effective use of charitable resources and provided they do not engage in party politics. The Government respects that right and Ministers have consistently said as much in public."  

The Minister also said that the Government is in the "early stages" of considering the recommendations made by Lord Hodgson, and is therefore unwilling to meet with stakeholders at this stage.  

The full letter can be viewed here.

For reference, the original letter to the Government is copied below. 

Building bridges, breaking barriers: Integrated care for older people

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has reviewed how well different health and care services work together to support the needs of older people in England. 

In its report, Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers, CQC warns that despite a widespread commitment for integration across the sectors, substantial progress is needed to better support people who use a number of services, reduce hospital admissions and avoid confusion about where to go for help. The report concludes that with a growing elderly population, now is the time to act.

They carried out site visits in eight areas and gathered evidence from a range of sources, and spoke with older people and their carers to understand how their experiences of care related to services working together.

The report highlights many instances of good practice where those providing and commissioning health and social care share information and co-ordinate services for older people. The report sets out the barriers to delivering joined up care. It concludes with five key recommendations for health and social care leaders.

The full report is available on the CQC website - http://www.cqc.org.uk/buildingbridges 

Disability and employment reports

The Resolution Foundation's report, Retention deficit: a new approach to boosting employment for people with health problems and disabilities,states that in order to make significant progress on the government's ambition to halve the disability employment gap, a comprehensive set of changes will be needed, alongside a cultural shift in how we view the connections between disability, health and employment in this country. The purpose of this report is to offer a new set of ideas that can be considered and developed in the new Green Paper due to be published later this year. In particular, they see an opportunity for a renewed focus on one area of policy where they think attention has often been lacking: the employment relationship and exits from work connected to disability and ill-health.

A copy of this report is available on their website.

Also, the Trades Union Congress has published Disability and Employment, which claims that the government is “years behind schedule” in delivering its manifesto commitment to halve the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people by 2020 and it will be 2030 before the commitment is delivered. The report's main findings are:

1. At the current rate of change, from Q1 2016, it would take 58 quarters, until Q2 2030 to halve the employment gap

2. The TUC have calculated that by the end of this Parliament (Q2 2020) at the current rate of change there would still only be a 52.4 per cent employment rate for disabled people. This means that with a number of provisos and assuming the current rate of change continues, only around a third of the government’s goal would have been achieved (31 per cent).

3. The latest employment rate of disabled people remains at below 50 per cent, at 47.2 per cent for Q4 2015. It averaged at 46.6 per cent between 2008 and 2014. The latest employment rate for non-disabled people is 80.3 per cent, and the average rate between 2008 and 2015 was 78.0 per cent.

4. The disability employment penalty rate averaged at -31.4 per cent between 2008 and 2015. The ILO unemployment penalty rate averaged at 4.4 per cent. The disability penalty is the gap between an employment outcome measure for disabled and non-disabled people

5. In Q4 2014 the average pay for all disabled people was 14.8 per cent lower than all non-disabled people. Average pay increased for both non-disabled people and disabled workers from Q4 2014 to Q4 2015. However, the gap narrowed between them in Q4 2015, when the average pay per hour for disabled people was 12.3 per cent less than non-disabled people. The average weekly pay for part-time disabled workers decreased between Q4 2014 and Q4 2015 compared with other workers

State of Caring 2016 Report

Carers UK’s State of Caring 2016 report shows that, one year on from the implementation of the Care Act 2014² – designed to improve support for carers – carers in England are still struggling to get the support they need to care well, maintain their own health, balance work and care, and have a life of their own outside of caring.

Carers’ experiences show that the positive rights outlined in the Care Act are not matching up with reality. Growing numbers of carers believe their quality of life will get worse over 2016 (54%), despite the Care Act being in force, compared with expectations last year (50%) before the legislation was introduced.

Under the new legislation, all carers are entitled to a timely assessment of their needs. Yet, shockingly, 1 in 3 carers (29%) who reported having an assessment in the past year had to wait six months or longer for it. More alarming still, over one-third of carers (39%) looking after someone at the end of their life had to wait six months or more for an assessment.

Not only are carers facing barriers to getting an assessment, but they told Carers UK that the assessments they have received are, consistently, not fit-for-purpose. Of carers who received an assessment in the past year:

• 2 in 3 (68%) felt their need to have regular breaks from caring was either not considered or not thoroughly considered
• Only 1 in 3 (35%) felt that support to look after their own health was thoroughly considered
• 3 in 4 working age carers (74%) did not feel that the support needed to juggle care with work was sufficiently considered
• 1 in 5 (21%) said they received little or no helpful information or advice, and felt they didn’t know where to go for support with caring

These findings are particularly stark in the wider context of reducing support services and changes to social security. Carers UK’s survey revealed further evidence that a reduction in public services is hitting carers and their families hard. 1 in 3 carers (34%) reported a change in the amount of care and support services they or the person they care for receive. Of these, over half (59%) saw a reduction in care and support services due to cost or availability; this includes 13% who said a service was closed with no replacement offered.

A full copy of the report is available on the Carers UK website.

Job Opportunity: CLES

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is the UK’s leading independent charitable research and member organisation, with a focus on local economic development, regeneration and place-making. They think and do – promoting action and implementing new progressive economic activities which create positive environmental, health and social outcomes. In all their work the relationship between place, economy and people is central. 

As a Senior Researcher, you will play a role in identifying new policy ideas and business opportunities through developing relationships and engaging with their membership base. You will play a key role in delivering policy advice, research and consultancy assignments to a high standard as well as implementing activities. This will involve using qualitative and quantitative research techniques such as undertaking interviews, facilitating discussion groups, administering surveys, and analysing secondary data; and you will contribute to the development of relevant recommendations. In addition you will help produce policy publications and will deliver bespoke training and membership seminars.

You will have three to five years’ experience of a policy/research/consultancy environment, preferably with a think tank, local authority or other public sector agency, voluntary and community sector organisation, or consultancy. You will have experience of developing relationships with a range of stakeholders across the public, commercial and social sectors and managing research and policy work. You will be self motivated, enthusiastic, up for creative thinking and keen on making a positive difference to local places and society. The role is an opportunity to work in a unique and innovative environment.

The salary for the role is £25k - £30k, dependant on experience, and is based in Manchester. 

Senior Researcher Job Description June 16

Senior Researcher Person Specification

To apply, please submit a CV and full cover letter to:

Laura Symonds
Office Manager
CLES
Express Networks
1 George Leigh Street
Manchester M4 5DL

T: 0161 236 7036

E: laurasymonds@cles.org.uk

As part of their equality, diversity and inclusion policy, they are committed to name blind recruitment. To enable them to do this, please send your documents as word files rather than pdf. 

For an informal and confidential discussion about the post, please contact Neil McInroy, Chief Executive of CLES on 0161 236 7036.

Realising the Value Update

Regional Voices, of which VSNW are a member, has been part of a consortium working with NHS England, Nesta, Health Foundation, Behavioural Insights Team and 5 VCSE partner sites on a project to evidence the value of different approaches to person centred care and to find ways to encourage greater use and uptake. The project was hugely ambitious and complicated, and has met with some challenges over the past 18 months, but findings are starting to emerge and a project update is now available.

In preparation for a working day with commissioners, Nesta has produced an update of progress and next steps in the different workstreams. It is in the form of a ‘storybook’ which gives you an ‘in a nutshell’ overview of each of the workstreams: what they are about, who the products are aimed at, learning and next steps. The workstreams detailed in the storybook are:

·  Work with local partner sites and communities of interest (led by sites with Voluntary Voices)
·  Supporting culture change, underpinned by behavioural insights, for both health and care professionals, and individuals and communities (led by the Behavioural Insights Team)
·  Valuing the contributions of people and communities in health and care (led by Voluntary Voices)
·  Assessing system change levers and drivers (led by the Health Foundation)
·  Developing an evidence-based economic model and tools for commissioners (led by PPL)
·  At the heart of health (led by Health Foundation/Nesta)

Link - Realising the Value storybook