Writing in the Foreword to the Green Paper, Cllr Joan Symons states, “We have set out in this paper the rationale and framework for a five year culture programme for Cornwall, inviting comment from funding partners, the cultural sector (organisations and individuals), businesses and the wider community…. This is a significant opportunity to have your say in expanding on Cornwall’s already rich cultural heritage and further developing its strong sense of identity. I hope to hear from you and to work with you to make our aspirations a reality.”

The Council is seeking responses from culture sector practitioners, stakeholders, employees, volunteers and members of the public. To respond to the Green Paper click here for to complete the online survey.

Visit the Cornwall Council website for more background on the Green Paper.

The consultation period closes at 12pm on Friday 15 October.

The survey takes just three minutes to complete, and focuses mostly on what the priorities of the Big Society should actually be.

All results will be anonimised, and findings are intended to inform ongoing consultation and discussions with government. Please click here to access the survey directly online.

CommunitySense have also published some timely research into Local Enterprise Partnerships, surveying how 51 local authorities intend to progress the development of their LEP. The findings don’t make fantastic reading for the voluntary and community sector – less than a quarter of local authorities thought the VCS deserved a place on an LEP board, while 11% of respondents did not see a role for the VCS at all, either as a partner or a resource provider. To read the report click here.

Heritage Kernow is the sector partnership representing museums, archives and historic environment, including voluntary, private and public sectors. The new Strategy replaces the previous Heritage & Culture Strategy, which was produced by Cornwall’s seven district councils in 2000. It will feed into the Cultural Partnership and Cornwall Strategic Partnership, making it an important document to express the impact, needs and potential of the sector to a wider audience.

The consultation draft of the strategy, and the response form, are available online at www.heritage-kernow.org until Friday 17 September.

Local Enterprise Partnerships are set to take on some of the responsibilities of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) by the time the RDAs are wound down by March 2012.

The consultation is an opportunity to make the value of voluntary sector organisations and social enterprises known, and to specify whether functions should be delivered in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, a wider south west region, or nationally.

Cornwall Council has already received more than 200 responses to the consultation, and has issued a press release declaring the option to develop a LEP specific to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, ‘has received overwhelming support from Cornwall Council, Cornwall’s six MPs, representatives of the business community and members of the public.’

Various models for the LEP have been suggested, including a wider regional partnership with Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council.

In the press release, Cornwall Council Leader Alec Robertson adds, “This overwhelming level of support clearly demonstrates that there is a very strong case for creating a bespoke, tailored and above all local approach to economic growth and regeneration in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.“

The press release continues by stating:

‘Adding that there had been a great deal of speculation about the model the Council was pursuing in its development of a LEP, Alec Robertson said that the Council was emphatically committed to developing a Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership and had no plans to enter into a formal enterprise partnership arrangement with other authorities. He did, however, anticipate that the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP would want to work with other authorities in the future on broader issues such as transport and work was currently underway on considering what form this future co-operation could take.’

Proposal for LEPs have to be submitted to the Government by Monday 6 September.

Click here for further background information on the consultation from Cornwall Council, or click here to go straight to the consultation.

The plans have been drawn up under the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, and are heavily influenced by the work of his think tank, the Centre for Social Justice.

As always, we encourage staff and volunteers of VCS organisations to input views based on their valuable experience. Click here to read the 21st century welfare proposals and here to give your feedback.

Sitting on partnerships including Environment Kernow, Inclusion Cornwall and the Cornwall Strategic Partnership Executive Board, reps undergo specialist representative training, and have an important role in developing the relationship between the public and voluntary sectors.

They also report back to the sector via the Cornwall VSF website. You can read their latest reports at http://cornwallvsf.org/representation.

Opportunities to become a VSF representative often become available. Check the website for details and contact Lydia Billson on 01872 241584 or lydia.billson@cornwallvsf.org if you are interested.

The consultation is a key opportunity for voluntary and community sector organisations, and social enterprises, to make their value known. Important questions in the consultation include: -

Who are the key partners, other than business and the public sector, that should be involved in the management of the LEP?

Do you feel that European programmes could be best steered/hosted at the local level? If yes, how do you think this should happen?

Click here for further details from Cornwall Council or click here to go straight to the consultation.

Summary

Full Report

Voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations are being asked to share their innovative ideas of how things can be done more efficiently.

Click here to read the letter and here for the full media release from the Cabinet Office

Post your response and view other comments on the Cabinet Office website. Ideas and examples can also be emailed to ectorchallenge@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk

The survey can be accessed here. It should be completed by trustees of voluntary and community sector organisations of all types that work with young people in Cornwall, from large charities to grass roots groups and village halls.

With new arrangements to replace the recently scrapped vetting and barring scheme yet to be announced, safeguarding is a hot topic at the moment. In a competitive funding environment, evidence of safeguarding procedures will increasingly become an essential condition for securing funding.

The survey will be open until the end of September.