BSSEC_logo

‘Local Growth’ white paper confirms Regional Growth Fund bids open to social enterprises & SMEs

October 29, 2010
by Alun Severn
2 Comments
Yesterday’s Regen & Renewal online has good coverage of the government’s new Local Growth White Paper and what it has to say about LEPs — local enterprise partnerships, covered elsewhere on this blog. The white paper confirms that: LEPs will be expected to fund t
Continue Reading →

‘What makes communities work?’

October 26, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
News of Big Society-related events seems to be coming in thick and fast. The latest I have heard of is one to be hosted by BVSC on the 8th December 2010 at which extensive new research into the contribution that VCOs and faith groups make to community cohesion in Birmingham will be la
Continue Reading →

Birmingham City Council merges planning & regeneration depts with one-third job losses

October 22, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Regen & Renewal has a story dated 21/10/10 stating that one-third of Birmingham City Council workers in its planning and regeneration divisions will be made redundant when the two departments are merged. Read it here. Thanks to Chris Newis at BDRC for the pointer to this story.
Continue Reading →

Spending review pulls ‘Transition Fund’ rabbit out of the hat

October 20, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
I must say, I tried to listen to Osborne’s live spending review statement on R4, and I thought I had listened reasonably thoroughly, but I missed this… Third Sector Online reveals that the speech included proposals for a ‘transition fund’ for charities in genui
Continue Reading →

Pickles confirms scrapping of Local Area Agreements….baby and bathwater?

October 18, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Seems a bit odd to me that in an ‘age of austerity’ when surely co-operation and collaboration are a necessity, government is getting rid of Local Area Agreements (LAAs) which (I thought) were intended to do just that… In a letter sent to council leaders and chief ex
Continue Reading →

Government consults on infrastructure support for civil society & social enterprises

October 15, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Just hours after announcing the closure of the Capacitybuilders programme and the Commission for  the Compact, third sector minister Nick Hurd has announced a new strategy for strengthening the voluntary and social enterprise sector, Building a Stronger Civil Society: A Strategy for V
Continue Reading →

Liam Byrne MP will be Shadow Minister for Cabinet Office & big society

October 08, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
footprintassociates reveals that Birmingham MP for Hodge Hill and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne will be the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and will be shadowing on the Third  Sector and Big Society. Mr Byrne was called by newly elected leader of the Labour
Continue Reading →

New ‘Sherlock’ award launched!

October 08, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Further to this earlier post, I’ve just read an item in Third Sector Online which must take the No Sh*t, Sherlock Award (yes, a ‘Sherlock’!)… “Social enterprise investment experts” have told the European Association for Philanthropy & Giving sym
Continue Reading →

Kingsbridge declares peace on local community

October 07, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
Those seeking live examples of the kind of role local, grassroots social enterprise action might take in the Big Society might be interested in the following — just in from one of the folks involved in the project (thank you, Richard): An exciting new project to restore one of t
Continue Reading →

First educational theatre company outside London achieves Social Enterprise Mark

October 07, 2010
by Alun Severn
2 Comments
What do the following social enterprises have in common: Enta Birmingham Settlement iSE Bhat Singh Sabha The Health Exchange Pathway First Jericho Foundation JH Foundations Gateway Family Services That’s right. They are all holders of the Social Enterprise Mark, the new national
Continue Reading →

Enta — pioneering partnership creates local opportunities

October 06, 2010
by Alun Severn
0 Comment
A record 800 people from disadvantaged communities across Erdington have been given a real life chance thanks to a unique partnership designed to tackle worklessness. Enta joined forces with Merlin Housing Action Trust to deliver this programme – a £1.4m WNF-funded project – and in ju
Continue Reading →

“Austerity drive must not derail the winning big society”

October 05, 2010
by Alun Severn
2 Comments
So said Phillip Blond in an interesting comment piece in the Observer on Sunday 3rd October. Blond is director of the right-leaning think-tank ResPublica and author of Red Tory. Blond’s basic thesis (as I’m sure he’d call it; his schtick, his thing, his gimmick, if y
Continue Reading →

BSSEC Twitter

Subscribe to the BSSEC Newsletter

BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL SOCIAL ECONOMY CONSORTIUM C.I.C., trading as BSSEC. A community interest company registered in England and Wales with company no. 07992674. Registered office: c/o Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP, 134 Edmund Street, Birmingham B3 2ES | All rights reserved | Copyright 2013-BSSEC | Created by Citizen Click