September 5, 2018

Dare I say that summer seems to have passed in a flash, with today’s weather feeling very much like Autumn has arrived (all too soon), but I remain ever hopeful of a return to sunnier weather in September.

Well, this is my first Ebulletin article written in the Laura’s absence. As many of you will know she is currently off work ill and awaiting an operation, but we’re looking forward to welcoming her back hopefully around the end of September.
Apologies that this Ebulletin is a week later than normal – one or two technical hitches have led to delays.

Civil Society Strategy
National government published their Civil Society Strategy a couple of weeks ago, and it contains some statements that are likely to be welcomed by local third sector organisations. These include a commitment that government will renew its commitment to the principles of the Compact (an agreement outlining commitments and good practice for both the public and third sectors), a proposal to explore ways to strengthen civil society’s confidence in speaking out and lobbying for policy change, and a “revival of grant making”, rather than defaulting to competitive tendering of all services. It also emphasises the importance of local infrastructure organisations such as Cumbria CVS in supporting other local third sector organisations.

These are all policy areas that Cumbria Third Sector Network, supported by Cumbria CVS, has promoted over recent years – and I suspect these national proposals will also be welcomed by many in the local public sector organisations we work with. We are lucky that Cumbria still has an active local Compact, and has already started work to update its commitments to reflect current best practice, such as the “co-production” approach to designing and delivering services being adopted by the North Cumbria NHS.

The full Civil Society Strategy (123 pages) is available online, along with a concise 7 page summary:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-society-strategy-building-a-future-that-works-for-everyone

If you do manage to read the full strategy, Cumbria is actually mentioned in this national document! There is an acknowledgement of the role that civil society organisations in Cumbria played in response to and recovery from the flooding caused by Storm Desmond in December 2015 – an outstanding example of third sector organisations working closely in partnership (with each other, and with local public sector organisations) in very challenging circumstances, and we are very proud that Cumbria CVS played a role in coordinating some of this work.

The Civil Society Strategy formed part of the discussions at the Cumbria Third Sector Network’s “Working Together for Cumbria” event, which was hosted yesterday at our Shaddongate Centre. Cumbria County Council’s Chief Executive, Katherine Fairclough, and Deputy Leader, Ian Stewart, outlined the Council’s plan and how local third sector organisations can become involved. It was a well attended, lively event, with lots of engaging discussions. Feedback is being collated and will be fed back to the Cumbria Third Sector Network Executive and to Cumbria County Council to help inform next steps.

Please feel free to contact myself or another member of the CVS team with any queries in Laura’s absence.

Kind regards

Carolyn Otley
Engagement Team Manager