PLUNKETT FOUNDATION CONFERENCE:
RURAL COMMUNITIES – THE RIGHT TO TRY
27TH JANUARY - CAVENDISH CONFERENCE CENTRE, LONDON, W1G 9DT
Faced with declining or threatened local services, limited job opportunities, not enough affordable housing and looming public expenditure cuts, we need new ways to sustain the quality of life in rural communities.
There is a strong tradition of independence and self-reliance in our rural areas. Across the world, rural communities are taking action through a variety of enterprising initiatives where they take ownership of the challenges affecting them. However here in the UK there are unnecessary barriers which prevent rural people from exploiting this community enterprise potential. Communities are not yet in control.
This conference will go beyond the political rhetoric to explore a specific and practical proposition to return power to rural communities: the Right to Try. If a village shop is threatened with closure, the community should have the right to try to replace it before it is sold off. If lack of affordable housing is a concern, rural communities should have the right to try to secure land and raise finance. If a bus operator plans to withdraw a service, the community should have the right to try to put in place an alternative service. In short, the scales need to be tilted more firmly towards the community.
This conference will explore what rural community-owned enterprises are doing across the world to take control of the issues affecting rural people. It will highlight barriers which need to be removed in developed and regulated societies like the UK, and the types of support needed to make the right to try a reality. The event will engage practitioners, politicians, policy makers and shapers, funders and support organisations – those with the ability to make change happen.
Further information on this event including a range of high profile speakers, the best workshop sessions and the most inspiring case studies will be available shortly through the Plunkett Weekly News.
If you would like any further information on the event, please contact Mike Perry on 01993 810730 or mike.perry@plunkett.co.uk
PLUNKETT PERSPECTIVE
This week’s Perspective focuses on Plunkett’s new membership of the International Co-operative Alliance, following the general assembly of the ICA in Geneva.
http://plunkettfoundation.blogspot.com/
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PLUNKETT FOUNDATION PARISH COUNCIL SURVEY 2009
LAST CHANCE TO RESPOND
The Plunkett Foundation is undertaking a survey of parish councils across England and Wales, to discover what the level of awareness is within rural communities regarding community-ownership approaches to rural challenges. The survey is closing at the end of November which leaves just a few more days to respond. So far over 350 responses have been received so thank you to everyone who has completed the survey to date. Community-owned village shops are one example of community-ownership but there are many more. The Plunkett Foundation would like to see as many chairs or appointed representatives of parish councils as possible responding to this short questionnaire. This will help us to provide new services and to assist rural communities implement new solutions to the challenges they are facing. This may relate to a village shop and post office that’s threatened with closure, limited access to local transport or a lack of affordable housing. All respondents will be entered into a prize draw, for one parish council to receive:
-£250 for a community project.
-one day’s worth of specialist advice from Plunkett, looking at how community-ownership can offer a solution.
Information we receive will be used only for the purpose of this exercise and will not be passed on to any third party. We would like to thank you in advance for participating in this survey. To take the survey visit: http://www.plunkett.co.uk/newsandmedia/news-item.cfm/newsid/260
ELEVEN COMMUNITY OWNED SHOPS NOMINATED FOR RURAL AWARDS!
The Countryside Alliance has announced the regional finalists for their 2009 awards. Amidst the best village shop/post office finalists there are 11 community-owned shop nominations across the UK. These include Burton-in-Londsdale in Yorkshire, Lydbury North in Shropshire, Feckenham in Worcestershire, Dryslwyn in Carmarthenshire, Cwmdu, also in Carmarthenshire, Talaton and Berrynarbor, both Devon shops, Brompton Ralph in Somerset, Blockley in Gloucestershire, Woodgreen in Hampshire and Stutton in Suffolk. This is a fantastic acknowledgement of all the hard work put in by these rural communities and demonstrates the high standards set by community-owned shops in the UK.
http://www.countryside-alliance.org.uk/awards/2009-regional-finalists/
Co-operatives and Social Enterprise News
NUMBER 10 HOSTS WINNERS OF THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AWARDS FOR ENGLAND
England winners of the Social Enterprise Awards were honoured at a special reception at Number 10 to mark Social Enterprise Day (19 November). The public can now vote for who they think should be the best social enterprise in the UK - the final stage of the competition which has already seen national heats taking place in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Speaking at the reception, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I want to congratulate today's winners on their achievements, along with all the pioneering new leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs who are the future of our third sector. Charities, community groups, social enterprises and NGOs are all playing a vital role in getting the country through the downturn. I am confident that they will play an even more central role as we build Britain's future."
The UK final will be held in December.
To view a video about the awards, please visit: http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page21403.
http://tiny.cc/HMmsd
© Social Enterprise.org.uk
LUCY FINDLAY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF RISE, TELLS GORDON BROWN HOW SOCIAL ENTERPRISES CAN HELP STEER BRITIAN OUT OF RECESSION
On November 19 Lucy Findlay was invited to a reception at Number Ten Downing Street to celebrate the Social Enterprise Awards, and in recognition of her work promoting social enterprises – a form of ethical business trading for people and planet rather than profit – in the South West over the last six years. There are more than 5,000 social enterprises in the South West, ranging from the Eden Project in Cornwall and the Watershed Arts Centre in Bristol to a lift-sharing co-operative in Devon and a foster care agency in Gloucester, all with social aims such as job creation training or the provision of local services. For a full update on Lucy’s visit to Number Ten on Social Enterprise Day November 19th visit http://tiny.cc/CLoSa.
© Rise
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE BRAND LAUNCH DELAYED UNTIL 2010
The launch of the new social enterprise brand has been postponed until the New Year. The brand, or 'identifier', being developed from the social enterprise mark launched by South West network Rise in 2007, was due to be unveiled on Social Enterprise Day. However, the Social Enterprise Coalition, which is developing the brand along with Rise and the Office of the Third Sector, decided further discussions were needed to ensure it could reach its full potential. Steve Wyler, chair of the identifier steering group and CEO of the Development Trusts Association, said he was very happy with the change in timetable. 'I'm very happy with the decision, as this is a process we don't want to rush. The design has been signed off and we are just finalising the criteria, which we want be as inclusive as possible, and setting up the infrastructure and other administrative processes to manage the awarding of the mark.”
http://tiny.cc/4zWn2
© socialenterpriselive.com
GO! ON TRACK TO BE FIRST TRAIN OPERATING CO-OPERATIVE
Go! Co-operative is gathering momentum in its aim to become the UK’s first co-operatively-owned train operating company. It has appointed three new board members to take the organisation forward to operational stage. Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, Director of Operations, Chris Phillimore and Director of Safety, Chris Thompson, will work together to help ensure the smooth transition from initial start-up to fully functional social enterprise. Go! Plans to provide a service initially in Southern England, as the first open access train provider running as a multi-stakeholder co-operative, linking main lines to smaller market towns and villages. It is currently seeking funding of upwards of £250,000. Tim Pearce, Chair of Go! Co-operative, said: “I am very excited that we are attracting people with real practical experience and strong track records. That, plus the immediate response to our first offer of withdrawable shares, has given us some real momentum.” New Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, who is also Managing Director of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, is confident about Go! Co-operative. He said: “The present Lynton and Barnstaple Railway was created from nothing so there is no reason why a similar business model using broad based community support cannot be harnessed to run much needed trains on track that is already there.”
http://tiny.cc/EVPUW
© cooperatives-uk
SOCIAL ENTERPRISES CAN FAIL TOO, SAY MINISTERS
Social enterprises need a serious exit strategy to ensure weak organisations don't continue operating, says Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable. While admitting he only recently got to grips with what a social enterprise was, he said they needed to be treated like any other business if they were losing money. 'A lot do brilliant work,' he said at the Guardian conference about the future of public services last week. 'But how do you close them down if they go wrong? I think there are real issues around exit strategies.' With such massive cuts in public spending expected, especially at a local level, Cable said money management was even more important. And he said this could prove a bigger problem for social enterprises that were not seen as typical profit-making companies. Cable was joined in the closing session of yesterday's event by Barbara Follett, parliamentary under secretary of state for the communities and local government department. While praising the work of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, Social Firms UK and Liverpool's FRC Group, she highlighted how social enterprises can go wrong by using her own experience of setting up a business buying and distributing surplus food in South Africa in the 1960s and 70s. 'Our failure was in Pro-Nutro, a cereal of carbohydrates covered in the bits of fish no one else wanted to eat. It aimed to give starving people all the protein they needed,' she said. http://tiny.cc/wJT3m
© Socialenterpriselive.com
MINISTER WANTS DFT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ACTION PLAN
Transport minister Sadiq Khan agrees there is need for a Department for Transport social enterprise action plan, following calls from members of the Community Transport Association (CTA). At the CTA's England policy conference in London last week, CTA chair Dai Powell, CEO of HCT Group, called for a framework to help social enterprises in the transport sector move forward. Khan said that the Department for Transport had a third sector strategy, which was undergoing a review. But he added: 'I don't have a social enterprise action plan and that's not good enough.' He also used his address to launch a £1m rural social enterprise programme for England to help community transport operators become more sustainable. The three-year programme, set up by the CTA and the Plunkett Foundation, will offer grant, loan and development support packages to eight rural community transport organisations around England to help them grow their contract income. Khan said: 'Good transport links are an essential lifeline for rural communities and it's not just a question of the number of bus services, but about going to the right places at the right times.’ The funding, provided by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the Department for Transport, the Commission for Rural Communities and the Social Investment Business, will be backed up by a range of training, development and networking support provided by the CTA and Plunkett over the life of the programme. Applications can be made until Monday 4 January 2010.
http://tiny.cc/AVEDJ
© socialenterpriselive.com
NORTH WEST SOCIAL ENTERPRISE COMPANIES GET STRONGER VOICE
Samantha McHale who has worked in regeneration and housing for 10 years said it was a great honour to be asked to take on the leadership of this vital Group. “The Social Enterprise Group will be leading on the dissemination of information, networks, capacity and skills across the region’s housing and social economy sectors,” she said. “We want to facilitate increased levels of business procurement between associations and social enterprises and look at joint working arrangements which will build capacity to access new social enterprise business opportunities. We also want to ensure that the North West is represented in the national economic, social and environmental sectors.” For more information and to register your interest in the Group please contact Samantha McHale on 0161 875 8069 or 07971 791 072.
http://www.rise-sw.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=967
© Rise
NEWCASTLE TOPS SUSTAINABLE CITIES LEAGUE
Newcastle-upon-Tyne has been crowned Britain’s most sustainable city – the first time anywhere in the north of England has broken into the top three of the annual index. Nudging previous winners Bristol and Brighton into second and third place respectively, it tops the environmental table and comes fourth for both quality of life and future-proofing. Forum for the Future’s annual Sustainable cities index tracks progress on sustainability in Britain’s 20 largest cities - highlighting environmental performance, quality of life and readiness for future challenges. Margaret Eaton, chair of the Local Government Association, said: ‘Forum for the Future’s Sustainable cities index has driven real change by inspiring cities to adopt more ambitious sustainability strategies and by providing a framework against which they can benchmark their efforts.’ http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/news/article/2179/newcastle-tops-sustainable-cities-league
© New Start Magazine
OFFICE OF THE THIRD SECTOR SUPPORTS GOVERNMENT TO EXPLORE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IDEAS
Last week Angela Smith, Minister for the Third Sector, announced the second phase of the Office of the Third Sector’s £1.3m Social Enterprise Action Research Programme, which allows other departments to explore ways in which social enterprises offer solutions to policy problems. The new projects include work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) into understanding the impact of social enterprises who farm, distribute and educate people about food, and with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to embed social enterprise into communities' efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.
The Social Enterprise Action Research Programme is designed to enable other government departments to explore the role social enterprise can play in meeting their policy objectives; from tackling climate change to managing the nation’s health. It uses small amounts of Cabinet Office funding to stimulate other department’s social enterprise policy and programme spend by supporting them to undertake research into social enterprise solutions to policy problems. http://tiny.cc/R9W18
© Office of Third Sector
NATIONAL WINNER OF THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION - REVEALED
A social enterprise in Plymouth has been crowned the winner of the 2nd Annual Social Enterprise Photography competition, it has been revealed. Millfields Trust saw off competition from the winners in each of the eight other English regions to be voted the champion by a panel of the UK’s Social Enterprise Ambassadors. The competition called for images which show how social enterprise is more than just business as usual. Roger Pipe, General Manager of Millfields Trust, said: “We felt we had a great photo that captured the happiness and exuberance of young people.”
http://tiny.cc/l94XP
© Office of Third Sector
Farming and Food
CUMBRIA FLOOD DAMAGE BILL £3M AND RISING
CUMBRIA’S floods have already cost an estimated £3 million worth of damage, according to the countryside’s biggest insurer. NFU Mutual said it had already received 50 claims come through from the worst affected town, Cockermouth, alone, a figure that is certain to rise. The rural insurer has hundreds of farming, business and domestic policyholders in the worst-affected areas. It is giving out an immediate £500 emergency payment to badly-affected domestic policyholders and has bought in staff from across the North West to deal with these claims. “Restoration firms are on stand-by to go in far earlier than in other flood disasters to help people with the clean up - particularly those that are elderly. We’re looking for alternative accommodation for those whose homes have been seriously affected,” the insurer said on Monday, 23 November. NFU Mutual said its claims bill is estimated at £3m. Over 12 inches of rain was recorded in one day in Cumbria.
© Farmers Guardian
ECONOMIST SAYS TIMING OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING CUTS CRUCIAL
The UK economy risks being pushed back into recession if the next Government cuts public spending too much or too soon, warns one of the South West’s leading economists. The winners of the next General Election should wait until the economy is sure of a robust recovery before implementing an inevitable and necessary tightening of fiscal policy, writes Nigel Jump, Chief Economist for the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency) in its Quarterly Economics Review to November 2009. The report says that, with the world’s economy having come out of recession, fears about the UK economy have also eased, however it remains in “intensive care”. In the South West, it is unlikely the region’s economy can return to pre-recession ways any time soon but there are reasons to be optimistic about the future, providing the region can diversify its economy and adapt to a shrinking public sector. Writing in the report, Nigel Jump said there is no doubt that the UK’s fiscal affairs are “in a mess” and that the projected budget deficit is unsustainable - but he warns, “we have to make sure the patient will survive” before implementing a “necessary regime of strict fiscal control”. For further detail and to download a copy of the report, please go to http://www.southwestrda.org.uk/region/economy/economics-review.shtm.
© www.swrda.org.uk
MPS SLAM POST OFFICE CLOSURES
MPs have accused ministers of lacking concern over the impact of rural post office closures. Some 2,500 branches are being closed. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published a report into the government’s post office closure programme on Thursday (12 November). Some 2,500 post office branches are being closed – many in rural areas – in an effort to put the network on a sustainable footing. A series of undertakings by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to protect post office users during the closures were largely met, said the committee. Complaints included too little time for consultation, that decisions had already been made and that the public were not being listened to. “The department’s assessment of the social and economic costs of the closure programme was inadequate,” says the report.
http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/services/mps-slam-post-office-closures.html.
© RSNOnline.co.uk
MOPEDS FOR RURAL DEVON STUDENTS
A Pilot transport project to help rural students travel to college has been launched in Devon.The Wheels 2 Learn scheme loans mopeds to students aged 16–19 who are in full time further education, but unable to reach college using public transport. It is being trialled until next July at East Devon College, South Devon College, Bicton College and Holsworthy Skills Centre. Some 16 scooters are currently available. If successful, the scheme may be extended in the next academic year. The project is being funded through the Post 16 Partnership and includes representatives from Devon County Council, Further Education Colleges and Schools, Connexions and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).
http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/services/mopeds-for-rural-devon-students.html
© RSNOnline
COUNTY COUNCILS ‘SELLING OFF FAMILY SILVER’
SELLING off county council farms was ‘akin to selling off the family silver’ and must be stopped, delegates were told at the NFU Tenant Farming Conference. Council farm estates are regarded as one of only a few ways for genuine new entrants to enter the agricultural industry. But local authorities are selling farms at an alarming rate. “The council farm network, which places the emphasis on providing an opportunity for new entrants to agriculture, is a key part of the tenancy structure,” said Peter Crozier, former national tenant spokesman for the NFU. Mr Crozier, who started his farming career on a council farm, said: “I am very sorry some local authorities are now selling these farms. Many authorities are in a difficult financial position but bad management means they are failing to capitalise on their farmland.”
http://tiny.cc/k7uBu
© Farmers Guardian
Rural Development
VILLAGE SOS – RCAN MEMBER SHORTLISTED
28 villages have been shortlisted for the Big Lottery/BBC project Village SOS. The project aims to fund six rural villages to develop new business ventures that will breathe new life into their areas, create new jobs and improve the quality of life for local people. The 28 villages are being paired with a village champion through a unique ‘matchmaking’ conference and shortlisting process. RCAN member, Rural Community Action Nottinghamshire’s, Future Newstead Enterprise, a project to revive a former colliery site into a county park and community resource, has been shortlisted. In May 2010, the final six villages will be announced and their respective Village Champions will move into the villages for a year to help them turn their business idea into a reality.
http://www.acre.org.uk/resources_publications_headlines13nov09.html
© ACRE
POLL SHOWS KEY SERVICES DISAPPEARING FROM RURAL ENGLAND
Nearly half of people living in the countryside say they have seen key amenities close in their communities over the last five years – fuelling fears that traditional village life is in terminal decline as families are priced out of rural areas, according to a new poll. The ICM survey, commissioned by the National Housing Federation, found that 45% of people living in rural areas had seen the number of shops, schools and pubs in their village or market town fall since 2004. It also found that 62% of rural dwellers believe there is a shortage of affordable housing in their area, and that 66% of those polled would support the building of new affordable homes where they live. The survey also found that almost half of those in the countryside, 47%, believe that people who oppose all new homes in rural areas are damaging the future of their village or market town. The wide ranging survey paints a gloomy picture of life in rural England – with one in four, 24%, saying that the sense of community in their village had declined over the same period, while 26% said second home owners have had a negative impact on the place in which they lived. A record 650 pubs and 400 shops are due to close in rural areas this year, while village schools continue to disappear from the rural landscape at a rate of one a month.
http://tiny.cc/Pjx09
© National Housing Federation
RURAL COMMUNITY BUILDINGS: NATIONAL SURVEY PUBLISHED
Use of England’s rural community-owned buildings has trebled since 1988, according to the research undertaken in ACRE’s 2009 national survey of rural community buildings. The key findings celebrate the success of volunteers and the buildings they manage in supporting local action and service delivery. The 9,000 halls represent the largest network of community-owned facilities in the country with a total asset value of over £3 billion. They are a crucial but largely hidden aspect of community empowerment, and
http://tiny.cc/GYYM9
© www.acre.org.uk
SCOTTISH RURAL LAND SURVEY
Rural land makes up 97 per cent of the country, accounts for one in every six jobs and generates over £17 billion a year for the economy. Those key findings were among many to be found in new research published last week at Scotland's first-ever Land Use Summit, which promoted the development of Scotland's first integrated Land Use Strategy to help meet 21st century challenges such as food security, energy production and tackling climate change. Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said today's research shows that rural land delivers a 'huge range of benefits' including income and employment, maintaining strong and resilient communities, and generating food, fuel and energy. The Rural Land Use Study was launched on September 26 last year to examine the links between different types of land use and their competing demands. The Study has involved a wide range of stakeholders throughout the process, from the launch event, to advising on the research, through to discussion of the implications at the Summit.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/11/09134359
© www.Scotland.gov.uk
International News
INTERNATIONAL YEAR RESOLUTION RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM MINISTER
A major United Nations committee has given the green light to a resolution proclaiming 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives, paving the way for its approval by the full General Assembly in early December. A first draft of the resolution was approved in late October by the Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues. If it receives the General Assembly's support, 2012 will be celebrated around the world as a time to raise awareness about the contribution of co-ops to social and economic development. Meanwhile, the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of National Revenue and Minister of State for Agriculture, has expressed his support for the resolution. Minister Blackburn, who is also responsible for the federal Co-operatives Secretariat, has written a letter to the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, suggesting that Canada officially support the resolution.
www.cca.com
© Canadian Co-operative Association
NEW ICA PRESIDENT ELECTED
Dame Pauline Green, former Labour MEP and leader of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, has been elected President of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) at its General Assembly in Geneva. The ICA is the largest non-governmental organisation in the world and was founded in 1895 in London to unite and represent millions of co-operatives around the globe. With a remit of promoting the co-operative economic and social model, the ICA enjoys consultative status at the United Nations and works closely with the International Labour Organisation. Dame Pauline has an association with the co-operative movement that goes back a number of years, and is the former Chief Executive of Co-operativesUK, the national trade body for co-operatives. The current economic crisis has brought to the fore how interdependent the world's financial markets are and how ordinary people have been alienated by big corporate institutions. According to Dame Pauline, one of her key priorities as President of the ICA is going to be raising the profile of co-operatives as a grassroots movement with huge potential to empower people and communities. 'Together the top 300 co-operatives globally are responsible for an aggregate turnover of 1.1 trillion dollars, that's nearly the same size as the Spanish economy. They really are a global force,' she said.
http://tiny.cc/E7Yjj
© Cooperatives-uk