Safeguarding Survey
To coincide with Safeguarding Awareness week the Torbay Safeguarding Children Board (TSCB) launched a survey on 21st November to help it understand safeguarding children practice. It will be available on the internet for two weeks and is being hosted by Devon County Council. The survey is totally confidential and will be used to help shape the new Children’s Partnership Improvement Plan so your views are very important. This survey is for anyone who has direct contact with children, young people and families and will take 10 to 15 minutes of your work time to express your views in a short but important questionnaire on safeguarding children.
To access the survey please go to https://www.devon.gov.uk/lscb the deadline for responses was 2nd December however this has been extended for a further week.
Your NHS Community Services in Southern Devon – Please tell us what you think
The clinical commissioning groups in Southern Devon are developing the community health services available to our local population. These services are provided by Torbay and Southern Devon Care Trust. In order to tell the Care Trust what services we need, we would like to ask you what is important to you. It would help us greatly if you could take a few minutes to tell us what services you use, what you think of them and what matters to you.
There are two questionnaires; one for individuals to answer on behalf of themselves or someone they care for and another for organisational representatives to answer. We are keen to gather the important views of people who use health services, their carers or families and the people who support them in the community.
The questionnaires ask what services people seek out when they need them, how they value those services and what they think of the quality of other supporting services in the community.
The questionnaires are available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Community_Services_INDIVIDUAL_survey and
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Community_Services_ORGANISATION_Survey
Paper questionnaires can be obtained from Community Services Questionnaire, FREEPOST (Jo Curtis), RRLE-KHTU-ZGEU, Torbay Care Trust, Bay House, Nicholson Road, Torquay, TQ2 7TD. Tel: 01626 357026 or email Jo.curtis@nhs.net
In order for your voice to be heard, please complete and submit your survey by 16 December 2011.
Results of the survey will be published on the NHS Devon website in January 2012 or can be obtained via the above address. Many thanks for your valuable contribution.
Early education
The government has launched a consultation on free early education. Follow the link to find out more and take part
Feed back to the involvement & mental health consultations
Earlier this year (2011) Torbay Council carried out a consultation exercise about Involvement and Mental Health. The results can be seen by following the links below:
Involvement Strategy
www.torbay.gov.uk/index/community/consultation/closedconsultations/ttig.htm
These results will now be used to update the Torbay Together Involvement Strategy and you can follow the above link to find the updated strategy.
Mental Health Strategy
www.torbay.gov.uk/index/community/consultation/closedconsultations/buildingblocks.htm
These results are been used to develop the mental health strategy
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Diverse Communities review
The following information is regarding the review into our commitment to continue to provide support, advice and guidance to the Diverse Communities in the Counties of Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.
At the end of the form is a link to an on line survey regarding this review. I would ask that you take time to complete this survey as the results may well have an impact on the policing for our Diverse Communities.
Please feel free to circulate to as many of our partners, both voluntary and statutory, who may well be concerned as to the future concerns of their policing needs.
Read the information here Diverse Communities and then follow the link at the end of the document to give your views
Torbay Council Budget Consultations – Public Evening Meetings
The process has begun for Torbay Councils Budget Consultation. The proposed savings can be viewed at www.torbay.gov.uk/budgetnewsletter-oct11.doc where you will see in black and white ‘Reducing grants to voluntary sector organisations’ in Children’s Services and ‘Review of discretionary grants to community or voluntary sector organisations’ in All Departments
The Council will be consulting on these proposals over the next 3 months before final decisions are made. Members of the Public (that includes all of us who live, breath, eat, drink, sleep the Voluntary and Community Sector whether by being employed in, or volunteering in the Sector) will have the opportunity to respond in a number of ways.
Please join Liam McGrath, the CEO at CVA Torbay, and other members of his team at the following public meetings to ensure your views are heard. Also read on to find out about other ways in which you can respond.
Public evening meetings have been arranged, these will also involve other public sector partners, including police and health. The events will be led by the Chair of Scrutiny. Cllr John Thomas and will be held on the following days:
Tuesday 1 November 2011: Westlands School 6.30pm- 8.30pm
Wednesday 2 November 2011: Torquay Community College 6.30pm- 8.30pm
Thursday 3 November 2011: Paignton Community and Sports College 6.30pm-8.30pm
Thursday 24* November 2011: Brixham Community College (*Please note new date) 6.30pm-8.30pm
Public daytime events in the form of the council’s consultation caravan will be at the following places:
Wednesday 26 October: Fore Street Brixham 10.30am to 3.30pm
Wednesday 16 November: Victoria Street, Paignton 10.30am to 3.30pm
Tuesday 13 December: Union Street Torquay 10.30am to 3.30pm
Questionnaires will be available on the Torbay Council website (shortly) and will also be available through libraries and Connections Offices. If residents do not wish to fill in the formal questionnaire, ideas and comments on the budget can also be sent to consultation@torbay.gov.uk .
The council will also be running a special budget viewpoint consultation. Viewpoint is a 1000 strong residents’ research panel statistically representative of the population of Torbay, which acts as a statistically reliable thermometer of their thinking.
The council website we will also be running a budget simulator which allows members of the public to ‘balance’ their own council budget and consider where they would make savings.
The council is aware that there will be some proposals which will create wide interest and some which may have an impact on specific groups.
For what happens next see www.torbay.gov.uk/budgettimetable.pdf
Big Lottery Fund - Consultation on proposed policy directions
The Government wishes to consult on proposed policy directions for the Big Lottery Fund.
Why are we consulting?
Welcoming the consultation, The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude said: "The voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is at the heart of this Government’s mission to build a Big Society. The Big Society is about helping people to come together to improve their own lives. It’s about putting more power in people’s hands, opening up public services and encouraging social action.
"The Big Lottery Fund (BIG) plays an important role in supporting our civil society and it is entirely fitting therefore, that policy responsibility for the Big Lottery Fund transferred from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to the Cabinet Office. About 28 pence of every pound spent on a lottery ticket goes to good causes and BIG is responsible for distributing 13 pence of this. BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environmental and charitable causes across the UK since June 2004. This funding helps communities and people most in need throughout the United Kingdom to improve the quality of their lives by making a difference to the things which matter most to them.
"Too many long and unwieldy restrictions govern how the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) hands out money, inhibiting their ability to do their job properly. Therefore, in line with the transfer of responsibilities for BIG, the Cabinet Office will open a 12-week consultation on proposed new policy directions for BIG to try to address this. Please do let us know what you think at biglotteryfundconsultation@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk. This is incredibly important work and we need to make sure it is done in the best way possible."
Who are we consulting?
The consultation invites views from a wide range of stakeholders which include the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector and other government departments. The Office for Civil Society in the Cabinet Office will work closely with the Devolved Administrations particularly where policy directions are UK wide.
How to respond
Deadline for responses: Midnight on Friday 18 November 2011.
Download consultation documents
- Proposed Big Lottery Fund Policy Directions [pdf]
- Consultation Questions [rich text format]
- Current Big Lottery Fund Policy Directions [pdf]
Email: Complete the response form [rich text format] and send it to: biglotteryfundconsultation@cabinet-office.gsi.gov.uk
Post: Send a written response to the consultation questions to:
Deborah Boswell
Cabinet Office
4/16
1 Horse Guards Road
London SW1A 2AS
All information in responses, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004). If you want your response to remain confidential, you should explain why confidentiality is necessary and your request will be acceded to only if it is appropriate in the circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the department. Contributions to the consultation will be anonymised if they are quoted.
Individual contributions will not be acknowledged unless specifically requested.
Following the consultation, the government will consider feedback. A summary will be published in January 2012 with the overall government response to the consultation.
From the Department of Health: (Gateway Ref. 16633) Caring for our future: shared ambitions for care and support - engagement exercise
The Government have launched Caring for our future: shared ambitions for care and support – an engagement with people who use care and support services, carers, local councils, care providers, and the voluntary sector about the priorities for improving care and support.
Caring for our future is an opportunity to bring together the recommendations from the Law Commission and the Commission on Funding of Care and Support with the Government’s Vision for Adult Social Care.
The engagement exercise will run until 2 December and the results from the discussions will inform a Government White Paper and a progress report on funding reform that will be published in spring 2012.
For more information and for details on how to get involved, please go to: www.caringforourfuture.dh.gov.uk
ACTIVE AGEING QUESTIONNAIRE 2011
Torbay Care Trust, Torbay Council and LINks are working in partnership to find out about your experience of health and social care services in Torbay. The recent ‘Active Ageing Questionnaire’ was a part of this work, the results of which will be fed into a Torbay Ageing Well strategy.
ACEVO wants input on influencing Big Society agenda
The Commission on Big Society, set up by charity chief executives body ACEVO, is seeking to articulate a vision for what needs to be achieved through the Big Society agenda, and to recommend practical steps. An online survey asks for views on 9 key questions at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MGG66YK
The Renewed Draft Torbay Local Compact consultation.
Local Compact Accountability
Compact consultation response sheet
The word Compact literally means "official agreement". It sets out the principles by which the public sector - including local council, local nhs, the police and fire - work together with the voluntary and community sector to deliver services for the benefit of local people.
There has been a Torbay Local Compact since 2004, following the first National Compact in 1998. When the Coalition Government came to power last year, it announced a renewal of the National Compact although the previous Government had undergone a refresh only the year before. Torbay followed that pattern and this is the second consultation in two years. However, this time the consultation period is shorter at six weeks instead of twelve and will be complete by the end of April. Please take a moment to look at the document and give your views on the response sheet. Now more than ever, against a background of uncertainty and financial restrictions, the voluntary sector needs strong support.
This latest draft Torbay Local Compact is shorter, more succinct than last years's draft, and has more accountability if its terms are broken. It was endorsed by the Torbay Strategic Partnership on March 17th 2011. The final version will feature more illustrations, including photographs of local scenes and case studies of partnership working.
Improving Sport Facilities within Torbay
Your chance to have your say about improving sports facilities within Torbay, by filling in the online questionnaire.
This survey aims to discover your views on suggested proposals at Clennon Valley / Goodrington, Broadsands and Brokenbury (Galmpton).
The Council would like to find out your views and ideas about improving sports facilities in three locations in Torbay. Please fill it in and pass this information onto other club members and residents.
Please don’t miss your chance Catherine Williams, Community & Sports Officer, Torbay Council, 2nd Floor Tor Hill House, Union Street, Torquay, Devon, TQ2 5QW
Tel: 01803 207976 Fax: 01803 207976 Email: Catherine.williams@torbay.gov.uk
Community Rights to Challenge and to Buy Consultations
Under the Community Right to Buy (assets of community value) community groups will be able to nominate important local amenities and buildings - such as community centres, town halls, or the last village shop or pub - for listing as assets of community value by the local authority. When they come up for sale, communities will have extra time to prepare a bid to take them over, making it easier to keep much-loved assets in public use and part of local life.
Under the Community Right to Challenge voluntary and community groups, parish councils and local authority staff will be able to challenge to take over the running of local authority services where they believe they can do so differently or better.
The Localism Bill sets out the proposed framework of the two Rights. The detailed approach will be established through regulations. To assist in developing the detail of the regulations we are consulting on both Rights.
Follow this link to the full information including access to the consultation
Community Right to Buy – how it could work
Proposals to introduce a Community Right to Challenge
PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND – A NEW SERVICE TO GET PEOPLE HEALTHY
WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY HERE TO BE A PART OF ENSURING THAT THE NEW PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM IS RIGHT AND THAT IT DELIVERS SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS TO THE HEALTH OF THE POPULATION. Please read on, follow the link to further information and to access the online Consultation. Thank you.
A radical plan to go further and faster in tackling today’s causes of premature death and illness and reduce health inequalities, with a public health service to make it happen, has been unveiled by Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley.
Public Health England will be created as a service that gives more power to local people over their health, whilst keeping a firm national grip on crucial population-wide issues such as flu pandemics.
The White Paper, Healthy Lives, Healthy People also sets out how funding from the overall NHS budget will be ring-fenced for spending on public health – a recognition that prevention is better than cure. Early estimates suggest that current spend on areas that are likely to be the responsibility of Public Health England could be in the range of £4 billion.
Capitalisation and Social Investment
NCVO's Funding Commission has published the first of a series of papers for consultation. 'Capitalisation and Social Investment' sets out the Commission's findings and emerging recommendations on giving civil society organisations better access to capital to help them build their capacity, develop new products and services, or cope with unexpected events. Read more here, access and respond to the Consultation
Wanted: Your views on a National Skills Strategy for the voluntary sector
The government has pledged support to voluntary sector organisations in delivering the Big Society, particularly in providing more public services and building strong communities. To rise to these challenges, charities, social enterprises and other voluntary sector organisations need people with the right skills in the right numbers to make a difference.
Skills - Third Sector’s public consultation with the sector to develop the National Skills Strategy involves nine regional roundtables and an online consultation.
Skills – Third Sector have now finalised the National Skills Framework for the Voluntary Sector. Follow the link to access the Framework and read the consultation reports. Read more here, access and respond to the consultation
Follow this link to Information from the Department of Work and Pensions regarding payments to people who take part in consultations
