By Ethel Bangwayo
Herts CVS Group
The new government has announced a number of changes that will affect both statutory and VCS ways of working. Details are still hazy and there has been speculation about some funding streams possibly being under threat. It is hoped that the emergency budget (due to be announced on the 22nd of June) will provide some clarity.
Meanwhile, the county has received confirmation that the LAA1 Performance Reward Grant (PRG) has been halved which effectively means that the second tranche of the reward money (due March 2011) will not proceed. However, the £8.7 million that has already been received is safe and the county still stands to receive half of the additional circa £4million generated by late LAA1 targets.
Another change that has taken effect is the abolition of the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA), effective May 2010. The Audit Commission has reported that:
- All work on updating the area assessment and organisational assessment will cease with immediate effect. These assessments on the One Place website will therefore not be updated.
- The joint inspectorates will not be reporting new red or green flags in the area assessment nor updating the text around existing flags.
- The Audit Commission will not be issuing new scores for the use of resources assessments (for councils), the managing performance assessments or the overall organisational assessments.
This has come as a disappointment to some, as a lot of time and effort had been spent on self assessments and related activity. All is not lost however, as these assessments provide a timely planning tool given that the countywide Sustainable Communities Strategy is in the process of being refreshed. The Hertfordshire County and District self-assessments have, therefore, been compiled into a 'Hertfordshire Forward Annual report 2010 ' which will be made available on the Herts Forward website.
Speaking of the SCS refresh, the first of three Herts Forward events was held on the 14th of June to start the process. The Herts Forward core group and other partners met to consider progress and identify priorities going forward. Further details are available from ben.wood@hertscc.gov.uk.
We will also be setting sail in the winds of change and making changes to the My Herts LAA website and blog to reflect national changes and provide a more accurate reflection of thriving third sector work and outcomes in Hertfordshire. The first of these will be a name change to ‘My Herts Together’. Changes will take effect over the next few weeks.
For further details, please email ethbang@stevenagecvs.solis.co.uk
