[Campaignforrealdemocracy] Meet Thurs? Fwd: The Real Third Way - Civil Society and Its Independence

[Mark Barrett]

Hi Matt

Thanks for this.

I've forwarded your questions and comments to Francis and will try and make
sure they get raised on the night, although I am now being toldby my school
that I may need to be around in the eve for a parents night. But anyway, I
think also they'll be useful in planning the civil society event we've
recently spoke of, in 2010. If you and/or CSC & NCIA were to put forward a
critique (of the overall  emasculation of the voluntary and community
sectors by the state) alonhg these lines, presumably we could use that as a
springboard for the second part of the programme, which means talking about
and hopefully getting delegates to commit to some new solutions. Essentially
policy ideas to put independent civil society up where it belongs, on a par
with state and market via, for example the local provision of publics
services (including governance); the real third way.

And ideally some of these ideas will be agreed before the event, so we can
go forward from that day into a union.

Does that make sense to people?

Mark

2009/10/13 Matthew Scott <Matt at communitysectorcoalition.org.uk>

>  To Mark and group
>
>
>
> I can’t attend the Thursday meeting – it’s all booked up so missed my
> chance
>
>
>
> However I know lots of NCIA people will be there (National Coalition for
> Independent Action) – another grouping I am involved with along with CSC
> (Community Sector Coalition and CDNL (Community Development Network London)
>
>
>
> RE the meeting on Thursday I wanted to share the following thoughts:
>
>
>
>    1. Keep a close eye out for ‘policy piracy’ – there are two clichés
>    that everyone agrees about in the third sector, one is that small community
>    groups are really important, and two is that the sector’s independence is
>    vital.  Is this really true?  If everyone claims to agree with everyone else
>    on this issue then have they been talking the talk or walking the walk?
>
>    2. To what extent have they actively encouraged money and power to
>    devolve to local groups, or even their own members?
>
>    To what extent have they uncritically connived with and promoted the
>    government’s modernization agenda of turning the sector into a few
>    subcontractors? – who in the sector has been selling the idea of capacity
>    building and governance in order for groups to be ‘contract ready and fit
>    for purpose’?  Is the only game in town for groups to aspire to technical
>    and managerial standards as distinct from campaigning, advocacy, direct
>    action and social justice?
>
>    3. Under the watch of the most senior in the sector and government, the
>    third sector has grown in size (by about 25% over the last 10 years) but at
>    the same time small and medium charities got smaller, let alone the more
>    numerous civil society orgs like unregistered community groups – how could
>    this happen?  How could inequalities between groups in the third sector
>    increase when there was more money than ever coming into the sector?  We
>    can’t just blame government about this, the great and the good in the sector
>    are implicated – with regard to this assertion that the rich in the sector
>    got richer at the expense of the smaller more local groups, this is not just
>    a wild accusation – government itself recognizes it: -see quote below
>
>    4. ‘Not every organisation has grown.  NCVO 2007 UK Voluntary Sector
>    Almanac highlights the rapid growth of many large charities and the decline
>    in income of many small or medium sized charities’ - Future Role of 3rd
>    Sector in Economic and Social Regeneration (Treasury & Cabinet Office) 2007
>    – paragraph 1.1
>
>    5. Where have the panel stood on issues around Community Cohesion,
>    Single Group Funding, the Prevention of Violent Extremism Fund – which is
>    really about the Big State and surveillance through communities – you will
>    find some of those on the platform have taken a very establishment line
>    about civil unrest, which seems at odds with the sector being independent
>
>    6. What is the panel’s view on the recent consultation on the Voluntary
>    Sector Compact?  The view across most of the third sector is that it is, at
>    best, an irrelevance, because it has no teeth and no resources.  There is
>    nothing binding and it has a large focus on contractual compliance (note the
>    issue of independence of the sector arises again whereby the key local
>    document can only see the sector in terms of a means to an end – service
>    delivery).  Given most groups in the sector do not get contracts or any kind
>    of state funding the compact immediately excludes them.  If the senior
>    people in the third sector don’t actually come out and say clearly what is
>    wrong with the compact but hedge their bets then what are the chances for a
>    genuinely independent third sector?  I attach my response to the compact on
>    behalf of the Community Sector Coalition where we come out and say
>    unequivocally that we do not support the compact and that it should be
>    withdrawn – the Black & Minority Ethnic umbrella group Voice for Change
>    England have similar concerns
>
>
>
> For those of you outside the third sector politics all this may seem a bit
> hard to fathom, so apologies if it is not clear but had I been able to
> attend I would have hoped to raise some of this and would have loved to hear
> the discussion
>
>
>
> Matt
>
>
>
> Matthew Scott
>
>
>
> CSC Director
>
>
>
> 020 7336 9461
>
>
>
> Work mobile: 07827 258411
>
>
>
> Website: www.communitysectorcoalition.org.uk
>
>
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> In this meeting we want to discuss the importance and role of the voluntary
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> should be. This will be the focus of this meeting.
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> http://www.tmdnet.net/picts/alun%20michael.jpg The Rt Hon Alun Michael MP
> who has held many posts in the last 10 years including Minister of State,
> Home Office and was also in charge of local government and community
> affairs. After the 2005 general election, he was moved to a ministerial post
> in the Department of Trade and Industry as Minister of State for Industry
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> voluntary sector. It has been said of Alun that he is "quietly persuasive:
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> http://www.tmdnet.net/picts/steve-johnson.jpg Steve Johnson is Chief
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> Independent Advice Centres (FIAC). They firmly believe that although the
> social welfare landscape has radically altered in the past 25 years their
> commitment to the provision of free, independent advice has not changed and
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> independence in the contact culture has been a vital but necessary struggle
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> http://www.tmdnet.net/picts/StuartEtherington.jpg Stuart Etherington was
> appointed Chief Executive of NCVO in 1994. Throughout his career he has been
> involved in the leadership of voluntary organisations and policies
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> Chair of the BBC Appeals Advisory Committee, and a member of the Community
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> http://www.tmdnet.net/picts/karen.jpeg Karen Chouhan. Karen is the founder
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> alliance that re-shapes race related policy through an economic lens and
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