Bulletin Contents - 6 April 2009

New Charity Accounting Thresholds in Force

More Time to Pay Business Rates

Tapping into New Areas to Find More Charity Trustees

Identifying the Good Things about Being a Charity Trustee

The Trustee Conference 2009

Refreshing the National Sector Compact

Building Stronger Communities Taskforce

Lottery Funds for Small Community Projects

Help for Those Working with Unpaid Family Carers

Online Disability Advice for Everyday Living

Identifying the Difference that Sector Support Makes

Helping to Help with Individual Budgets

Accessing the Real Help for Communities Support

New Charity Accounting Thresholds in Force

The official orders required to make the anticipated changes to the accounting thresholds for charities have been laid before parliament, and came into effect on 1 April.  According to the Office of Third Sector news item the changes include:

• raising the (income) threshold above which charities prepare accruals accounts from £100,000 to £250,000, taking about 11,700 charities out of the requirement;
• raising the (income) threshold above which accounts must undergo external scrutiny from £10,000 to £25,000, which will affect around 37,000 charities; and
• increasing the (income) threshold above which charities submit annual accounts and Trustees Annual Reports to the Charity Commission from £10,000 to £25,000 – relevant to around 23,000 small charities.

More Time to Pay Business Rates

Businesses will be able spread payment of this year's inflation up-rating to Business Rates over three years, under legislation just announced by the government.  Many charities have discounted rate charges, but other voluntary organisations may find this of help in cash-flow terms.  www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1190659

Tapping into New Areas to Find More Charity Trustees

Third Sector magazine reports that the Charity Commission's recent open board meeting heard that work was underway with organisations that have pools of potential trustees to develop a recruitment website.  The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the School Governors' One-Stop Shop and the Appointments Commission are involved and Charity Trustee Networks will also contribute.  News item at www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/894672/ (registration required).

Identifying the Good Things about Being a Charity Trustee

Charity Trustee Networks wants to address the frequent overstatement of the onerous responsibilities and the little consideration on the positive aspects of being a trustee, which can put off potential trustees before they've started.  So CTN is out to collect evidence on real experiences of trusteeship, through a short online questionnaire available via www.trusteenet.org.uk/news/good-things-about-being-trustee

The Trustee Conference 2009
London, Thursday 2 July 2009

The Trustee Conference brings together leading legal, financial and fundraising figures within the sector to offer trustees and senior managers practical advice and innovative solutions to the challenges ahead.  The seminar programme has been specifically designed to deal with the problems posed by the current economic climate.  Running alongside our established strands are sessions which aim to address funding, risk and accountability issues and others which demonstrate how to get the most out of assets such as staff and property.  For more details please go to: www.russell-cooke.co.uk/downloads/Trustee_Conference_2009.pdf

Refreshing the National Sector Compact

The Commission for the Compact has been asked to lead a process to redraft the Compact documents, covering relationships between public bodies and the third sector.  An advisory panel should meet soon with formal consultation starting in June, according to Compact Voice, and a new version of the national Compact to be out in November.  The refreshed Compact will aim to:

• take the best from the original Compact and its codes, taking into account recent developments in law, policy and practice; and
• set out what a Compact way for working means and help public bodies and the sector to make this a reality.

Read the Commission's news item.

Building Stronger Communities Taskforce

A new Government taskforce is to spend three months "exploring ways in which private and third sector organisations can work in partnership to help communities tackle new challenges and become stronger together" in innovative but practical ways.  See Taskforce news item.

Lottery Funds for Small Community Projects

The updated Awards for All programme from the Big Lottery Fund has opened.  Each country in the UK has its own approach to giving grants for small, local community-based projects so make sure you go to the right section at www.awardsforall.org.uk

Help for Those Working with Unpaid Family Carers

A new website from The Princess Royal Trust for Carers has been built "specifically so that anyone working professionally with carers has access to the best information available on the internet", sourcing knowledge from their nationwide network of Carers Centres, www.carers.org/professionals

Online Disability Advice for Everyday Living

The Disabled Living Foundation's online guided advice tool about daily living, AskSARA, has been relaunched with a new user friendly design and added features.  It aims to help older and disabled people and their families obtain tailored advice about products that can help, www.asksara.org.uk

Identifying the Difference that Sector Support Makes

New research carried out by Charities Evaluation Services for the National Performance Programme investigates how infrastructure (sector support) organisations are approaching the challenge of demonstrating the difference they make.  The findings are drawn from desk research, 28 interviews and a survey of 119 infrastructure organisations.  Download 'Demonstrating the difference' (pdf, 2.79MB) from www.ces-vol.org.uk/index.cfm?pg=472

Helping to Help with Individual Budgets

Practical workshops for organisations supporting third sector health and social care providers to help them get to grips with individual budgets are being run by Acevo as part of the national Improving Support Income Generation workstream.  In London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle between April and June, see www.improvingsupport.org.uk/income/news/individual-budgets.html

Accessing the Real Help for Communities Support

Regional roadshows for small and medium frontline third sector organisations are being held by the Office of the Third Sector, on how to access the support available from the Government's £42.5 million action plan Real Help for Communities.  This will include information about loans and grants from the Modernisation Fund, to help those thinking of working with other voluntary organisations through collaboration or merger.  News item or register at www.coievents.co.uk/realhelpforcommunities/ (first come first served).