NAVCA News
Browse our latests news articles below
Government publish progress report on supporting civil society
The Government has published “Making it easier for civil society to work with the state: progress update”. The paper has been produced as a stocktake on progress made against the commitment made by the Coalition Government to “support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises, and enable these groups to have much greater involvement in the running of public services.”...
Autumn Statement
Following George Osborne’s Autumn Statement today (Wednesday 5 December) Joe Irvin said, “Big economic announcements have impacts on individuals and communities. Regardless of the rights or wrongs - cuts are causing incredible pain. It is often charities that deal with the consequences. The Government must remember this and limit cuts to the work local charities do.”...
NAVCA welcomes Nick Hurd’s response to Hodgson
NAVCA has welcomed the interim response by Nick Hurd MP, the Minister for Civil Society, to Lord Hodgson's Charities Act Review. In the letter sent to Lord Hodgson, Nick Hurd uses a traffic light system to indicate whether he believes the recommendations should be broadly accepted (green), need more work to be done before he can accept or reject them (amber) or should not be accepted (red)....
Do nothing not an option for Work Programme
Joe Irvin, Chief Executive of NAVCA, has responded to the Work Programme figures released today. In a blog on the NAVCA website, Joe said that the Government must make changes to the scheme as it is failing unemployed people....
NAVCA alarm at Government plans to drop equalities assessments
NAVCA is alarmed by Government plans to drop equalities impact assessments (EIA) before cutting or introducing new services, announced by David Cameron in a speech to the CBI in London on 19 November. In the past failure to do this has led to landmark legal victories for Charities such as when Birmingham City Council attempted to change eligibility for adult social care from thousands of disabled people....
NAVCA AGM elects new chair and gives support to merger
NAVCA members have voted to progress merger talks with Community Matters. The vote came at NAVCA’s AGM on Wednesday 14 November, held at the Woburn House Conference Centre in London. The AGM also saw members elect Caroline Schwaller as the new Chair of NAVCA to succeed Mike Martin MBE, who completed a six year period of office in the role of NAVCA Chair, the maximum permitted under NAVCA’s constitution....
NAVCA and Locality call on Chancellor to create £150m fund
NAVCA and Locality have sent a budget submission to the Chancellor, George Osborne MP. They make the case for a fund that will help micro social enterprise and local charities generate growth in the poorest areas. The submission calls for a fund of £150 million to provide £3 million growth funding to the 50 most deprived areas in England....
NAVCA celebrates Living Wage week
This week (4-10 November) is Living Wage week, whose purpose is to raise awareness of the Living Wage campaign. It is currently set at £8.55 in London and £7.45 outside the capital....
Survey shows NAVCA members improving local relationships
NAVCA has published the results of its second quarterly survey of members. The survey takes the temperature of NAVCA members and tracks trends in local voluntary action. The survey shows that despite the tough times, NAVCA members are improving their relationships with local statutory bodies and with other local charities....
NAVCA welcomes the Advice Services Transition Fund
NAVCA has welcomed the £65 million support package announced today by the Big Lottery Fund for advice services. The Advice Services Transition Fund hopes to fund around 300 projects across England. The Cabinet Office and BIG are providing half of the funding for the project....
Umbrella organisations pen joint letter to new treasury minister
NAVCA have joined forces with other leading national umbrella charities in writing to the new Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Sajid Javid MP....
Joe Irvin gives evidence in Parliament
Joe Irvin, Chief Executive of NAVCA, appeared today (Tuesday 23 October) before the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) to give evidence. The committee held the session as part of their scrutiny inquiry into the implementation and operation of the Charities Act 2006. In particular they are looking into the recommendations made by Lord Hodgson in his report on the regulation of the Charitable Sector and the Charities Act 2006....
Community Matters, NAVCA and Small Charities Coalition respond to Hodgson
NAVCA, Community Matters and the Small Charities Coalition have written a joint open letter to Civil Society Minister, Nick Hurd MP, in response to Lord Hodgson's report. The letter focusses on ten of Hodgson's recommendations and classifies them using a traffic light system of red, amber or green....
Community Matters members vote for continued merger talks
At Community Matters AGM on Saturday 6 October, members voted overwhelmingly for the organisation to continue talks with NAVCA about merger....
Alternative to Big Society
Joe Irvin, NAVCA's Chief Executive, has challenged the Labour Party to provide a viable alternative to the Big Society. Joe Irvin made the challenge during a fringe meeting jointly hosted by NAVCA and the think-tank ResPublica at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester....
NAVCA joins Living Wage campaign
NAVCA has become an accredited Living Wage employer, becoming the first national voluntary sector umbrella charity to do so. By being a Living Wage employer, NAVCA will ensure that staff, including regularly contracted staff, are paid the Living Wage (currently £7.20 per hour outside London and £8.30 per hour within)....
Let’s stick together
Joe Irvin, NAVCA’s Chief Executive, addressed Community Links Bromley’s AGM on Wednesday 19 September. He told the audience, including leading figures from Bromley’s local voluntary sector and public sector bodies, that although reduced funding and competitive contracts could turn charities against each other, the sector needs to stick together to support the people who need our help most....
Nominations now open for the 2012 Compact Awards
There is less than 1 month to go to enter the 2012 Compact Awards. These awards are run annually to celebrate good partnership working across sectors....
Drop in local authority funding to over half of Volunteer Centres
A survey of Volunteer Centres in England has found that over half that receive funding from the local authority had it cut in the past year....
Equalities: new report
Voice4Change England and NAVCA have produced a joint report showing that specialist service provision is an essential means of delivering both more equitable and more efficient public services....
NAVCA publishes local funding report
NAVCA has published a report that for the first time collates local state of the sector reports produced by NAVCA members to provide an overview of the impact of cuts on local charities and community groups. The report also includes the findings of a NAVCA members’ survey, carried out in May this year, showing how cuts are also affecting the support available to local charities....
NAVCA Trustee vacancies
NAVCA has written to members asking them to nominate to NAVCA's Trustee Board for 2012. NAVCA is seeking three elected Trustees, whose term of office would be from November 2012 to November 2015....
Members can publicise contracts in Linx for free
NAVCA members can now publicise contracting opportunities for free in our weekly ebulletin, Linx....
Community Matters and NAVCA open merger talks
Community Matters and NAVCA have announced merger talks. Both trustee boards have discussed merger and believe that it would create a new force in local voluntary and community action and be a powerful champion for local charities and community groups. A steering group to look at the possibility of merger between the two organisations has now been formed. The group is made up of trustees and senior staff from both organisations and it will produce recommendations to be considered at the AGMs of Community Matters (6 October) and NAVCA (14 November). A merger decision requires the approval by both organisations respective memberships....
Quarterly survey results published
NAVCA has published the results of its first quarterly survey of members. The survey takes the temperature of NAVCA members and tracks trends in local voluntary. NAVCA has established a representative panel of members to undertake the survey to ensure that the findings accurately reflect the experience of our wider membership, which covers the whole of England....
