CEN Open meeting on 17th September 2010

Our next Open Meeting is being held on the 17th September 12 noon at Holy Cross Church Hall in Corporation Street St Helens (next to the Arriva Offices and Theatre Royal.)

We will be looking at what the Big Society means for us in St Helens in the face of challenging public sector cuts and how we can be more resilient in the face of this. There will be opportunities for community groups to raise issues and share their thoughts on various topics.
Refreshments and a buffet lunch will be available. Please let us know if you are coming along.

Since the Big Society has been launched (3 times now) there have been a number of cuts which will affect the development of projects. The Plunkett Foudation is one such organisation which was helping communities to save their village shop or pub. All funding for this programme has been cut. If the Big Society is to mean anything it needs resourcing otherwise it just won't work.

Big Society Launch 19th July Liverpool

Earlier today David Cameron held yet another launch of the Big Society initiative in Liverpool.

Whilst the localism agenda can be viewed as a positive development the majority of people commenting on various websites today from the BBC, Daily Mail, Guardian et al.. are all in the main very scpetical of the Big Society. Many people believe its just a subtle way of introducing more cuts and getting people to volunteer more and provide less state run services.

Whilst there is perhaps some merit in this line of thought the agenda does present perhaps a new opportunity to encourage people to take more responsibility for their neighbourhoods and hold service providers to account.

There no doubt that the current funding situation is of huge concern to many people working in the public sector and indeed to many voluntary sector organisations that rely on state funding or local authority funding. Indeed if we are told is correct then many councils will be at least 25-40% smaller than they are in a matter of a few years. How much will communities be disadvantaged further when these cuts come in?

What further needs to be recognised by government is that there is a cost to volunteering that goes beyond just a time commitment. Volunteers often need training and resourcing in different ways (just like paid staff) and its not yet clear who picks up the tab for this within Big Society? Equally not all community groups by any means suddenly want to become service providers or wish to become and arm of the states delivery mechanism and so a the role of grant funding remains just as important.

There is also a danger that the government only wish to fund new projects (out of whatever little money there might be available) rather than support the existing work of community groups and organisations who are already active and provide a range of help, mutual support and improvement to neighbourhoods across the UK.

It is essential that further opportunities are found to ensure that community organisations can play a greater role influencing the nature of Big Society itself rather than the agenda influencing them.

Workshop with the Parliamentary Outreach Service

A quick reminder to groups that CEN is holding a free workshop for groups this Friday at 12 noon at the United Reformed Churtch King Street St Helens for those interested learning more about how we can positively influence the work of Parliament and MP's through the select committees etc.

As there is to be a new commitee set up for Big Society chaired by Francis Maud MP it is important that community groups are involved in shaping this as much as possible.

If you would like to attend please get in contact with CEN on 01744 759390 sthelenscen@gmail.com

Parkside Rail Frieght Terminal

Late last week Prologis who are the company behind the plans to develop a rail freight interchange terminal at Parkside near Newton -le-Willows have decided to no longer proceed with the plans due to the current economic climate. They recognise that the site remains an ideal place for a rail freight terminal but at the moment the high costs of altering key rail and road infrastructure arround the site make the development prohibitive at this time. There have been different arguments for several years about the benefits and equally the damage such a project could have brought to St Helens between residents living near the site and local politicians of different parties but for the time being the project is now on hold until circumstances change.

Building Schools for the Future

The Education Secretary Michael Gove MP has announced that the Building Schools for the Future porgramme is being suspended/scrapped as part of the govenrments funding cuts.

In St Helens a number of schools were scheduled to be involved in either new build programmes or substantial re-modeling of the existing schools. According the information released last night some schools within the programme are unaffected particularly ones where they are moving to become an academy.

As it stands the current Hope Park academy in Newton is unaffected and the new academy planned for Sutton might still go ahead. There is also a possibility that the remodelling of De La Salle and Rainford might proceed but these will be subject to further scrutiny. Unfortunately all other projects affecting other schools in the borough as part of the BSF programme will no longer go ahead and this will affect, St Augutines, St Cuthberts, Haydock, , Mill Green, the development of new pupil referal facility.

Halifax Agency Closures

Last week the Halifax announced that it was closing all of its agnecies across the UK as they no longer fitted thier business model.

As a result of this decision the Halifax agencies in Thatto Heath, Rainford, Billinge and Fingerpost are all due to close in October/November this year.

For some of these communities the Halifax is the only banking facility serving those areas and even the cash point facilities which are currently available at these agencies may also be withdrawn. This will have a detrimental affect on local residents and business in the area who rely on these Halifax outlets for banking services and the shops located in proximity to them will be particulalrly affected. CEN has contacted ward councillors in each of the ward areas affected and we hope that some alternative provision and the retententio of the ATM cash machines will remain.

Scrutiny Workshop

Later today on Thursday 10th June St Helens council will be holding its annula scrutiny workshop to examine what issues need to be looked at as part of the Scrutiny programme for 2010-2011. The workshop is taking place later today from 4pm-7pm at the World of Glass St Helens

Free Workshop for community groups

CEN is hosting a free workshop which is being delivered by the Parliamentary Outreach Service on Friday 9th July from 12noon-3pm. The workshop will look at effective ways in which community groups can infleunce the work of Parliament. It is being held at the United Reformed Church on King Street St Helens.

Please let us know if you can attend. 01744 759390

CEN Open meeting 18th June 12 noon

CEN is holding its next Open meeting on Friday 18th June 12noon at Holy Trinity Church Traverse Street Fingerpost St Helens.

All are welcome to attend. Please let us know if you can make it as it helps to organise the catering 01744 759390.

Funding opportunities

CEN has been informed earlier today that there are some local funding opportunities available that only a few groups have applied to.

The "Bridging the Gap" Coalfields Regeneration Trust currently has funding for groups in St Helens as does the Grass Roots Grants Programme adminstered by the Community Foundation for Merseyside. Don't miss out on these opportunities.

Coalfields Regeneration Trust www.coalfields-regen.org.uk

Merseyside Community Foundation www.cfmerseyside.org.uk

CEN Open Meeting in June

The CEN is holding its next Open meeting for member groups and members of the community on Friday June 18th from 12 noon-3pm at Holy Trinity Church in Fingerpost.

We look forward to meeting with you on the 18th June and please let us know if you are attending as it helps us to arrange the refreshments and catering more effectively.

Tel 01744 759390 info@censthelens.org.uk or sthelenscen@gmail.com

Free help with Environmental issues and the law

CEN has been informed about an organisation that provides free legal advice and support to residents and community organisations involved in Environmental issues.

The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) is the national UK charity founded in 1992 that helps people use the law to protect and improve their local environment and quality of life. Through our network of specialist lawyers and consultants across the UK, we provide free guidance and continuing support to those in need of assistance.

ELF also provides education and training, promotes lectures, conferences and seminars, produces publications and encourages policy development. Above all, we provide a voice for communities and individuals.

The website is: www.elflaw.org/site

Scrutiny Topics for 2010-2011

The Council's Scrutiny manager has asked the CEN to approach organisations to identify topics that could be looked at as part of the Council's scrutiny processes.

St Helens Council has an Overview and Scrutiny Commission which examines a whole range of public services (not just Council services) in order to see what's working well and how things can be improved further for the benefit of all.

The CEN would be delighted to hear suggestions from groups across St Helens about what issues they think should be looked at in 2010-11.

A number of suggestions have already been sent in but we would be delighted to hear more of your views and what matters to you.

Please e-mail your ideas to info@censthelens.org.uk, sthelenscen@gmail.com or contact us on 01744 759390 105 Corporation Street St Helens WA10 1SX

The Big Society

The new Conservative and Lib Dem coalition goverment has announced in more detail some of the Policy ideas around "The Big Society."

Building the Big Society

Our Conservative - Liberal Democrat Government has come together with a driving ambition: to put more power and opportunity into people’s hands.

We want to give citizens, communities and local government the power and information they need to come together, solve the problems they face and build the Britain they want. We want society – the families, networks, neighbourhoods and communities that form the fabric of so much of our everyday lives – to be bigger and stronger than ever before. Only when people and communities are given more power and take more responsibility can we achieve fairness and opportunity for all.

Building this Big Society isn’t just the responsibility of just one or two departments. It is the responsibility of every department of Government, and the responsibility of every citizen too. Government on its own cannot fix every problem. We are all in this together. We need to draw on the skills and expertise of people across the country as we respond to the social, political and economic challenges Britain faces.

This document outlines the already agreed policies that we believe will help make that possible. It is the first strand of a comprehensive Programme for Government to be published in the coming days, which will deliver the reform, renewal, fairness and change Britain needs.

1. Give communities more powers

␣ We will radically reform the planning system to give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which their inhabitants live.

␣ We will introduce new powers to help communities save local facilities and services threatened with closure, and give communities the right to bid to take over local state-run services.␣ We will train a new generation of community organisers and support the creation of neighbourhood groups across the UK, especially in the most deprived areas.

2. Encourage people to take an active role in their communities

␣ We will take a range of measures to encourage volunteering and involvement in social action, including launching a national ‘Big Society Day’ and making regular community involvement a key element of civil service staff appraisals.

␣ We will take a range of measures to encourage charitable giving and philanthropy.

␣ We will introduce a National Citizen Service. The initial flagship project will provide a programme for 16 year olds to give them a chance to develop the skills needed to be active and responsible citizens, mix with people from different backgrounds, and start getting involved in their communities.

3. Transfer power from central to local government

␣ We will promote the radical devolution of power and greater financial autonomy to local government, including a full review of local government finance.

␣ We will give councils a general power of competence. ␣ We will abolish Regional Spatial Strategies and return decision-making

powers on housing and planning to local councils.

4. Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises

␣ We will support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises, and support these groups to have much greater involvement in the running of public services.

␣ We will give public sector workers a new right to form employee-owned co- operatives and bid to take over the services they deliver. This will empower millions of public sector workers to become their own boss and help them to deliver better services.

␣ We will use funds from dormant bank accounts to establish a Big Society Bank, which will provide new finance for neighbourhood groups, charities, social enterprises and other nongovernmental bodies.

5. Publish government data

␣ We will create a new ‘right to data’ so that government-held datasets can be requested and used by the public, and then published on a regular basis.

␣ We will oblige the police to publish detailed local crime data statistics every month, so the public can get proper information about crime in their neighbourhoods and hold the police to account for their performance.