Archive for category: News

SAWN (Social Action West Northamptonshire) and the Doddridge Centre want to hear from CEOs about a CEO Network: We need to know what you want and when you want it.

 

Complete the simple survey here

 

Our intention is to run 4 each year, but this needs to be informed through your views. We need as many CEO’s or principal decision makers to complete the survey which should take no longer than 5 minutes.

 

With resources being constrained, we need to ensure the best value for money whilst delivering the right support mechanism to CEOs across West Northamptonshire.

 

SAWN is a partnership of Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire, South Northants Volunteer Bureau, and Daventry Volunteers.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) remains committed to supporting community-led events and activities across the area.

The Council, which has a new political administration led by the majority party Reform UK following last month’s elections, continues to give its backing to a busy  and varied local community events calendar for the year ahead, providing resource and support to community organisers.

Community-led events and activities that will be supported by WNC in the year ahead include activities for Pride, Windrush and Diwali, as well as Remembering Srebrenica Day, Ukrainian Independence Day, Hate Crime Awareness Week, Black History Month, International Women’s and Men’s Days, Emergency Services Day, Holocaust Memorial Day and Stephen Lawrence Day. The Council will also continue to show its support to key events in the military calendar beginning with Armed Forces Week later this month, alongside Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, Merchant Navy Day and VJ Day 80th Anniversary commemorations.

For more information view the full article here 

The Charity Commission and its sister bodies in Scotland and Northern Ireland have launched a public consultation on the next version of the charities accounting and reporting framework.

This framework, known as the charities’ Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) is the sector standard for accounting and reporting for charities that are companies or have an income over £250,000.

It ensures consistency and transparency across the sector, making charity accounts comparable, understandable, and useful for donors, beneficiaries, and the public alike.

It has been updated following an extensive development process informed by the views of partners and a sector specific SORP Committee.

The regulators are now inviting comments on the draft and the feedback will help shape the final version, which is expected to be published in autumn 2025.

We recommend that those charities who prepare accounts using the SORP start to get ready for the changes, which are expected to come into force for financial years starting from 1 January 2026.

https://www.charitysorp.org/

Last week, the Government announced the abolition of NHS England within the next 2 years: At the same time, new NHS Guidance was developed around Neighbourhood Health. Whilst both changes could be seismic, it will undoubtedly create a complex and confusing picture for many.

 

NHS England will be absorbed into the Department of Health and Social Care over the next 24 months. The main driver behind this is to reduce duplication between the two, and to deal with the increasing levels of bureaucracy which has plagued NHS England since its inception. Whilst this may mean that local ICB and NHS Leaders may have more autonomy, the extent of decentralisation is far from clear. It is reported that any financial savings made because of this change will be redirected to front- line services.

 

There will be an element of reduction with this: The NHS inherited a 6.6b financial gap and must make significant savings. ICB’s and the NHS must reduce their workforce by 50%. This equates to 12,500 job losses and a saving of 400M annually. The Government insists that these job losses will focus on administration rather than in front line delivery, but clearly its an uncertain time for those who work within the NHS.

 

The Government has an aspiration to devolve more power to local NHS Leaders. ICB’s will have a more autonomous role apparently, but the extent of this autonomy is uncertain.

 

So, with all this, what are the implications for the VCSE?

 

• For those VCSE organisations that rely on Health-related income streams the future will be uncertain.
• These changes could mean a loss of engagement, or at the very least new NHS Leaders to engage with (if for example the Northamptonshire ICB merges with others).
• Conversely, it could mean increased engagement if the prevention agenda continues to gain momentum and ICB’s must find new ways of providing commissioned services.

 

At the same time last week, new NHS guidelines were introduced regarding the concept of Neighbourhood Health. The guidelines reiterate the following themes which have been present within their Long-Term Plan: These are:

 

• Hospital to Community.
• Reaction to Prevention.
• Analogue to digitisation.

 

These guidelines were discussed briefly at the West Northamptonshire Health and Wellbeing Board, with most NHS Leaders commenting that it was a productive move and something that ICB’s could get behind. The truth is though that ICBs do not generally operate on a Neighbourhood Footprint, and General Practice won’t recognise the concept of Neighbourhoods as the Local Authorities envision it. We will have to see how this plays out, but West Northamptonshire are keen to keep the current Local Area Partnerships and introduce some Neighbourhoods as a tier above them.

 

So, what will this mean for the VCSE?

 

• It could be beneficial, as the VCSE more than any other sector understand the concept of Neighbourhood as a Place where they live, work, and invest.
• As Local Authority Teams follow this footprint, closer cultural working between all sectors will be required, and that will necessitate a more granular understanding of who does what and where.
• New types of engagement will need to be found that work effectively at a level which touches local communities, and more than ever communities will need a say in the healthcare they receive.

 

As the debate continues, VIN will be providing more updates: Simply visit: News | Voluntary Impact Northampton or subscribe to our Friday Bulletin by contacting Sophie.negus@voluntaryimpact.org.uk

 

Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire is now working with Adult Social Care West Northamptonshire on their Adult Social Care Co-Production Register. Part of this work is to recruit potential Experts by Experience (or EBE’s) who can contribute to future Adult Social Care Commissions, Priorities or Policies.

To aid in this process, a FAQ sheet for potential EBE’s can be viewed here

An application form for potential EBE’s can be found here

If anyone is interested about this work and wants an informal discussion please contact the VIN CEO on 07592 501770 or at russell.rolph@voluntaryimpact.org.uk