Anderson on Terrorism

David Anderson QC has published a weighty report on his review of terrorism legislation. At 379 pages, it's quite a read.  But what I found fascinating is that he devotes a whole chapter to civil society. Chapter 12. It’s worth a read.

His general approach to our sector is very wise. It’s one that the Government would do well to heed, when they are wondering about the value of civil society campaigning. His words could almost have come out of ACEVO’s 2015 election manifesto, which highlighted the need for government to safeguard a ‘free society’, for the sake of informed public debate and good quality laws. He said:

“A wise legislator will proceed however on the basis that the legal framework governing investigatory powers must be sufficiently robust to satisfy not only those who are easily satisfied, but also those who are suspicious of government or who feel deeply any intrusions into their privacy.”

Or in other words, it is very dangerous if the expertise of civil society is ignored because the authorities find it unpalatable. On spying and counter-terrorism as much as on issues like homelessness and social care. When civil society speaks truth to power, as is our right and duty, it can be uncomfortable. But the law and our country is all the better for it. We must defend that right!

Happy New Year!

A new year, and it’s looking exceedingly political already. Will we all be bored to distraction over the next 4 months of hyper-electioneering? I suspect so, though we know it's an important choice that must be made.

We begin the new year 2015 in the certain knowledge of at least one election in the next twelve months. One political adviser was quoted over Christmas saying he could think of at least 10 likely outcomes of May 7th’s poll. It is a critical but uncertain time for charities and social enterprises, and all we know for sure is that demand for our services will increase while funding will continue to be under pressure.

Today's the start of the party election campaigns, and so with 121 days to the polls I thought I'd outline ACEVO's vision for the year.

We think the top priority for politicians of all parties should be ensuring the economic and social recovery extends to all of society. Charities are vital to making this happen, by reducing demand for public services and working with the most vulnerable, and they need careful support. Yet too often the sector is viewed as an afterthought, an optional extra. It's time politicians recognised this.

Britain continues to be among the most generous countries in the world, as the Charities Aid Foundation ‘World Giving Index’ shows. Our 2.3 million civil society workers are a bedrock of British society, as are the 29% of the population who formally volunteer at least once a month. It’s vital that politicians recognise and do their best to protect this part of society in the run up to the election.

The General Election debate remains far from satisfactory for our sector. There is clear consensus among the larger political parties for an additional £50 billion of spending cuts over the next parliament. But there is little honesty as to where cuts will fall. Charities that provide the other, social safety net need urgent clarity so that they can prepare to fill the most urgent gaps when state provision is cut.

Our 2014 ACEVO Social Sector Tracker indicated that 89% of charity leaders expected rising demand for their services in 2015, while only 32% were confident this increased demand could be met. I have seen little in recent months to suggest that this picture has improved.‎

But our sector will not be passive observers of political debate. This month I'll be writing to the leaders of all main political parties to set out our stall. I will send them copies of our ‘Free Society’ manifesto for 2015, and draw attention to three key demands:
- For a 5-point blueprint for a ‘Free Society’ that protects civil society free speech
- For a Charter for Citizen and Community Rights in public services, to boost third sector delivery and ‘put the care back into public services.’
- For a grown-up debate about funding the infrastructure of the third sector, with possbilities to be discussed at a pre-election summit on the third sector. This would debate how to fund the sector as it further relieves the pressure on statutory public services.

2014 saw Britain’s civil society free speech compared unfavourably with the likes of Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia. When charities like food banks and homeless shelters are working harder than ever, it is vital that civil society is free to speak truth to power and point out the causes of the problems they seek to address. Politicians and others in power may find these uncomfortable truths, but they should not be silenced.

Our top-line ask is the urgent repeal of the Government’s Lobbying Act, and the introduction into law of safeguards for charity free speech.

We're also making sure politicians see charity leaders at the forefront of public service reform, to give Britain more responsive, citizen focused services that work with them not to and for them.

Too often citizens are still left disempowered - and this is something our sector can change. My November 2014 report on the Winterbourne View Care Home Scandal was adamant that service reform depends on empowering citizens to demand better services closer to their homes and in accordance with their needs.

ACEVO will call for a Charter for Citizen and Community Rights, that will safeguard rights to choice and voice for public service users in law.

I hope you enjoyed the break. I was in London, Charlbury and Yorkshire! Now it's back to the office with a vengeance. And with a resolution to cut down on excess sugar and wine. Let's see how long that lasts...

At the Daily Mail and ACEVO's Annual Conference

It isn't often that I'm seen in the offices of the Daily Mail! But I was there this morning, talking to "London Live" - the new TV channel for Londoners. I was there to talk about the new ACEVO Manifesto for the 2015 Election, which is launched today at our Annual Conference. A taster appeared in today's Times, from Whitehall Editor Jill Sherman.

Last night we held our Annual Dinner at the Millennium Hotel in Gloucester Road. We had the pleasure of Rob Wilson as our guest speaker, the relatively new Civil Society Minister. Rob praised our new Manifesto (or at least the bits he liked, which seemed to be a lot). 

"Free Society" sets out a costed and implementable 36 point plan for change. As the subtitle says, its policies are designed to "realise the nation's potential through the third sector". We argue the case for entrenching the right of civil society to campaign in legislation. In a new bill of rights for example. We make the case for reforming public services through a Citizens Charter of Community Rights and the need for a preferred provider policy across public services - that provider being the third sector, not the State. And we argue for fines made through the fraudulent actions of bankers to go into the charity sector in a new £470m Community Sustainability Fund, as the Independent on Sunday reported last weekend.

Today we've been at the QE2 centre in Westminster for our Annual Conference of charity and social enterprise Leaders - the country's biggest such gathering

Speakers have ranged from Will Hutton (Chair of our "Remaking the State" Commission), Tim Smit of the Eden Project and  Stella Manzie CBE, one of the UK's most senior and experienced local government officials . Next up is Paula Sussex, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission. 

So now, back to the Conference floor. I'll have more on all of this tomorrow.

Aaronovitch, Leeds and Winterbourne

Another great ACEVO leadership lunch yesterday, this time with Dave Aaronovitch – the well known broadcaster, journalist and Chair of Index on Censorship. I say ‘Dave’ – as I knew him when he was one. But as he said when he got to 28 it became David so he always knows if someone calls him Dave it’s a very old acquaintance. As I said to him, the same applies to me. Only very old friends call me ‘Steve’ (‘Tony calls me Steve’ as a famous Guardian profile of me headlined).

But I digress. We had a fascinating discussion on the state of the electorate and likely outcomes in May. As he had said in his Times opinion article that morning, pace Alice in Wonderland, ‘none shall have prizes’ next May. And perhaps the parties don’t even want to win. Very interesting also to hear from Peter Wanless, CEO of the NSPCC and author of the recent inquiry into historic child abuse records at the Home Office. He had been on the BBC the day before having to contradict the PM who had said his report showed there was no cover up. ‘He's wrong’ he said trenchantly. Good for Peter – a fine example of a third sector leader speaking truth to power.

Earlier in the week I was at the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board for an ACEVO regional forum; a chance for our Chief Executives to get together to network and share. As is so often the case, thoughts were much around problems on governance and money. Interesting to speak to Liz Bradbury who runs a superb outfit that supports young and old with practical companionship and a raft of services, as well as running a service for people with learning disabilities. We had a chat about my recent work on the Winterbourne report. Indeed another member there talked to me about how they are setting up a new community facility, with social finance support, to enable people to move out of hospital and back into the community.

The report of my steering group on Winterbourne is now finished. Our last meeting has taken place, and the report is off to the printers. It will be launched later in the month. We will have to wait to see the recommendations published  and how they are then received. And then the real work begins in implementing what we say.

I get a strong sense of consensus around what we are saying but we will see. And after all a report is only as good as what people do with it. After 3 years of failure to deliver on the pledge to move people from inpatient institutions there is cynicism around whether there will be action. But I’m optimistic. From what I have heard from all those who have taken part and been involved there is a strong sense that we can now move forward on an action plan for change. We shall see.

But before we get to that launch its the ACEVO Annual Dinner and Annual Conference next week. We will have a rather splendid document to launch.... but I'm not saying on what. And our guest speaker will be old friend Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities of Government. And we are overflowing with guests like Francis Maude MP, Simon Stevens, Will Hutton, Lady Smith, Lord Wood, and our Minister Rob Wilson MP. But the stars will of course be the charity and social enterprise CEOs!

NHS and charities!

Two weeks ago Simon Stevens published the NHS Five Year Forward View, a high-level strategy document on the future of the NHS. A couple of days later Andy Burnham reiterated his stance that the NHS should be the ‘preferred provider’ of health services, in an interview with HSJ.

Both positions mention the voluntary sector and profess its value. But there’s little hard policy to say how exactly we’ll establish good partnerships with heath commissioners. Enter ACEVO and our new ‘Working in Partnership’ report, published with the Central Southern Commissioning Support Unit.

Our report sets out seven principles to break down the barriers to partnership working between health and social care commissioners and the voluntary sector:

1. Sustainability - Organisations should seek to build partnerships through jointly committing leadership time and resource to understanding each other’s operating environments and contexts.

2. Transparency - Organisations should be open with each other and clear about the purpose and benefits of the partnership for partners, patients and the public.

3. Joint Vision - Organisations should share their vision and plans as early as possible so that they can identify synergies and opportunities to develop a joint partnership vision.

4. Joint Capability - Organisations should seek to enhance each other’s capability through, for example, knowledge transfer or the joint provision of services.

5. Proportionality - Both partners should be equal in the partnership but should be proportionate in their requirements of each other.

6. Innovation and improvement - Organisations should seek to share, develop and implement innovative solutions.

7. Accountability and governance - Be clear about how decisions are taken within each organisation and within the partnership. Agree how you will hold each other to account.

This is excellent progress. Now we need health commissioning units across the country to take these principles on board. ACEVO’s 2015 Election Manifesto - which we publish very shortly - devotes much attention to this area and will give the political parties food for thought. I’ll have more on this next week...