The Third Sector as deliverers of services – overhyped, an idea whose time is done

September 30, 2008 · Filed Under Viewpoint · View Comments 

As seasoned travellers on the highways and byways of community sector life, all of us are used to exercising a healthy scepticism in relation to rhetoric, which can often sound great, and delivery, which disappears down the memory hole.

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Who’s in charge of independence?

February 20, 2008 · Filed Under Viewpoint · View Comments 

By Nick Seddon, Third Sector, 20 February 2008

There was a sumptuous moment last spring when a leaked internal government memo revealed that Ian McCartney, then trade minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, had told officials to cancel meetings with charities opposed to the new EU economic agreements “if they don’t change their tune”.

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Cry freedom

February 20, 2008 · Filed Under Viewpoint · View Comments 

By Mathew Little, Third Sector, 20 February 2008

Andy Benson, convenor of the National Coalition for Independent Action, wants to stave off creeping state control of the voluntary sector.

Andy Benson

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    • Systems thinking in the public sector - John Seddon is a private sector consultant who is trying to introduce ‘systems thinking’ into the public sector…
    • NCIA speaks out - NCIA concerns about voluntary sector co-option are picked up by the Times in an article by NCIA’s Andy Benson. Go add your comments on-line
    • London Coalition Against Poverty (LCAP) – Direct Action Casework Manual - Direct Action Casework is what LCAP calls the actions it takes with people to challenge and overcome unjust treatment. Download the guide in pdf format
    • Overheard at the Jobcentre - A blog set up by and for unemployed workers and claimants to share stories and work out ways to support, defend one another and develop a united voice.
    • www.equanomics.org.uk/ - Equanomics UK exists to improve the economic prospects of minority and marginalised communities as a means to readdress social inequalities that exist in our society and rather create opportunities for sustained community development.
    • Newcastle CVS sets out the case against outcomes measurement - This paper examines what are seen as mistaken ideas about the appropriateness of using outcomes as a measure of success in the voluntary sector. Whilst it is primarily aimed at bodies like CVSs, much of it also applies to all voluntary groups.
    • Critically Chatting Collective’s Blog - Heretical and imaginative debate about Youth and Community
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