Government BARRIER BUSTING website!

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THE BEST IDEAS to improve local communities quite often come from the people who live there. But quite often rules, regulations or bureaucracy prevent even the simplest ideas from being implemented. This can be extremely frustrating to local community activists who see their good initiatives consigned to the shelf. But this situation might just be about to improve!

A special website has been started by the Department of Communities and Local Government which aims to "bust the barriers" that stifle community activity. barrierbusting.communities.gov.uk has been set up to support local groups who want to get things done but come across barriers that only central government can remove.

If you need help to get things done for your community – and you’ve done everything you reasonably can to resolve the issue at a local level – you can use this website to contact the barrier busting team. Or at least that is the theory!

This new website seems to be a really good idea - but perhaps we need to reserve our judgement until we start to hear the experiences of those who have used the site!? If you use the website - let us know about your experience at hu12@gmx.com

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Reduce Red Tape and Unshackle Good Neighbours - says report

"A SUFFOCATING BLANKET OF RED TAPE and an insidious mythology about being sued are deterring millions of Britons, volunteer organisations and charities from helping out more fully in society" an independent report revealed this week.

The Red Tape Task Force, led by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, has spent nine months examining the myriad of rules and regulations which put people off giving their time and money to good causes and stifles the volunteer and charity sector in the UK.

In launching the report Unshackling Good Neighbours (PDF File size: 4.69 MB) Lord Hodgson said:

"The variety, diversity and contribution of the charitable and voluntary sector is one of the glories of our country and the Task Force has set out to find ways to assist its continued growth and development. But over recent years we’ve seen a real devaluation of common sense and trust through a tangle of rules and guidance which aims to eliminate risk from our lives but instead creates a risk of a society where people are afraid to help each other."

The Red Tape Task Force set about answering three questions: what stops people giving their time, what stops people giving money and what stops charities and voluntary groups and social enterprises growing? And after reviewing over 600 complaints about excessive bureaucracy and speaking to dozens of organisations and individuals, it has made six key:

• Reform the law to clarify the extent of charity trustees and volunteer liability to encourage more involvement and participation by individuals
• Eliminate regulatory duplication and repeated requests for the same information in slightly different formats, for example by Companies House, the Charity Commission and commissioners
• Establish a Working Party to include representatives of the insurance industry and civil society organisations to address the insurance needs of the sectors
• Encourage investment in civil society organisations by creating a new category of "social investor" and clarify the position of trust law with regard to charities
• Simplify the licencing of fund-raising events and provide clear standard guidance across the sector
• Encourage the out-of-work to get involved in greater volunteering and ensure they and Job Centre staff understand that it does not automatically affect their benefits and welfare payments

The Government Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, has welcomed the report and invited Lord Hodgson to review progress on implementing the Task Force’s recommendations one year from now.

See from the Cabinet Office:

• Press release - Red Tape Task Force calls for clearer legal protection for volunteers
• Unshackling Good Neighbours - Report on how to cut red tape for small charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises

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Big Society 'red tape' purge

GRAHAM STUART, MP for Beverley and Holderness MP, is calling on all charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to help in the fight against excessive red tape.

His call comes as the Government launches a joint Cabinet Office and Department of Business, Innovation and Skills task force to look at ways of making life easier for groups working in the voluntary and social sector. The Government has said that it is committed to making it easier to run charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises. Reducing bureaucratic burdens will free-up time and resources for these organisations to make a difference in their communities and help mobilise the Big Society.

Graham said: “I have, with the help of the East Riding Voluntary Action Services and Virtual Riders, contacted nearly every charity, social enterprise and voluntary group in the constituency. It is vital they contribute as much evidence as possible to the task force so it can make meaningful changes to the processes which these groups need to go through. As we push forward with the idea of a Big Society it is important Government does as much as possible to smooth the path for the very groups and organisations which communities rely on. I do not want to see them entangled in red tape which could easily have been slashed.”

The task force is a commitment in the Cabinet Office Structural Reform Plan. Its purpose is to investigate and recommend measures to reduce the burdens on small organisations and it is a vital tool in achieving the Government's aim to make it easier to run a charity, social enterprise or voluntary organisation.

The chairman will be Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbots, who has spent his career advising and working with small and medium sized enterprises, and is currently NCVO President (National Council for Voluntary Organisations).

Evidence can be submitted by filling in a form at www.grahamstuart.com/cutting-red-tape/ or by emailing red.tape.taskforce@cabinetoffice.x.gsi.gov.uk

Useful Links:

• ERVAS
• Virtual Riders
• NCVO

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