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Charity leaders responding to David Cameron's speech in Liverpool on the Big Society yesterday welcomed the Prime Minister's statement but warned of a widening gap between rhetoric and reality as public spending cuts start to bite. Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, representing 2,000 of the UK's non-profit leaders) said, "the voluntary sector has a huge amount to offer in building a Big Society and delivering better public services, and the whole agenda will stand or fall on our ability to work with Government deliver it. We therefore welcome David Cameron's words today, and in particular the significant announcement that the Big Society Bank to support voluntary sector organisations to deliver public services will be capitalised with all the dormant account monies in England. That is a big leap forward from the position under the last administration."

Responding to the launch of the White Paper on Health today, Dr Peter Kyle Deputy CEO of ACEVO the representative body for charity leaders said,

“The sector will greet today’s return to ‘any willing provider’ with a sense of relief and enthusiasm. The major themes of empowering providers, incentivising preventative health interventions, and ambitious plans for social enterprise also give us a real sense of how the government will drive NHS reform forward.

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Responding to today’s emergency budget Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO, the representative body for charity leaders said, "The scale of the challenge facing charities as a result of this Budget is enormous. The spending cuts outlined today will impact on frontline services. The vulnerable will likely receive less support, charities will be asked to do more, and will have to do so at a time that their cost base is rising due to the VAT rise".

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In a speech to third sector leaders and representatives this evening, Stephen Bubb CEO of ACEVO (the representative body for charity leaders) will outline what it will take for the Coalition Government to successfully implement their vision for Big Society in an environment of sizeable cuts to public spending. Last week the new Government unveiled their plans for Big Society at a roundtable at No10. The third sector however still awaits the detail of how Government plans to turn their vision into reality. ACEVO are now calling on Government to truly engage and consult the third sector on how they can support a bigger role for civil society in the delivery of public services and build "Big Society" whilst implementing cuts.

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Responding to the Government’s announcement on the Future Jobs Fund this morning, Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO said, "Getting the coalition government to commit to maintaining the existing contracts in these tough times was no small feat. We’re glad that third sector organisations will continue to support the young unemployed in getting in to work this year.
"We must not forget the scale of what the third sector did in delivering the Future Jobs Fund. Lifting thousands of young people out of unemployment has demonstrated just how powerful partnership between the state and the third sector can be in reducing unemployment.
"It’s critical that in designing the future single work programme the coalition government makes the third sector a key partner throughout."

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Responding to the Queen’s speech today, Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO said, "There are clearly big opportunities for the third sector in education, welfare to work, health and reducing reoffending. It’s good to see that just as David Cameron MP has made Big Society top of his agenda, HM Queen talked about a greater role for the third sector in public services. The crucial question now is how we marry cuts to the government’s ambitious plans for public service reform and more broadly Big Society. We believe that with genuine partnership it can be done."

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The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) has launched a new business tool, Capacity Manager, to help third sector bodies manage their spending on overheads more efficiently. The online tool can be used to examine all the main types of overhead costs and can help judge the effectiveness of spending in different areas of business. It can assist managers to benchmark their spending against similar businesses, as well as make a case to funding and commissioning bodies to support investment.

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Responding to the announcement of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition Government this morning Stephen Bubb CEO of ACEVO said,
"And so a new chapter begins for the sector. This result offers a great opportunity to work with the coalition Government to deliver stronger communities and a bigger role for the sector in delivering citizen focused services.
"We made the Tories a " Big offer" at our sector - Conservative Summit and we’ve now written to the Chancellor asking how our offer of cost effective service delivery can help him cut the national debt. And we want to talk to the new Prime Minister about how we can work in partnership to deliver stronger communities and a Big Society.

Charity leaders are to meet with the Chancellor this morning to outline how they can help to achieve quality and efficient public services. ACEVO, which represents more than 2000 charity leaders, says that by understanding the people they serve and by providing preventative services they can help achieve significant long- term savings and deliver services that are more aligned with individual service user needs.

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According to research undertaken by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and the employee benefits adviser, Foster Denovo Ltd (www.fdemployeebenefits.com/thirdfinance), almost three quarters (73 percent) of charities have not as yet assessed the impact of legislative changes to their pension strategy. This compares to a figure of 84 percent in the same survey carried out in November 2008.

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Responding to the pre budget report, ACEVO has welcomed positive steps , including the firm commitment to create a Social Investment Wholesale Bank, buts says they must be built on to ensure that the 2010 Budget is a ‘budget for all’.

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Sir Bert Massie CBE, Commissioner for the Compact and third sector champion has been co-opted on to ACEVO’s northern steering group. Sir Bert brings a wealth of experience to the group of elected ACEVO members from Yorkshire and Humber, the North East and North West, who work to guide and promote the work of ACEVO in the northern regions. Sir Bert Massie has worked in the sector campaigning for disability rights for over 40 years and was a founding member of ACEVO over 20 years ago.

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Third Sector and Local Authorities must prepare for transformation in public service delivery says ACEVO Commission on Personalisation. The Commission, made up of third sector leaders, representatives from leading think tanks and Government officials, has urged the third sector and local authorities to take immediate steps to prepare for the personalisation of public services – with key budgetary powers passing from state to citizen. [Download press release]

On October 9, 2009 a group of third sector bodies including; the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, Institute of Fundraising, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Charity Finance Directors’ Group, Charities Aid Foundation, Charity Tax Group and Save the Children met with HM Treasury officials to continue discussions on Gift Aid reform and in particular the group’s proposals for a change to an “opt out” system. [Download press release]

Stephen Bubb delivered a speech last night to the chief executives of the sector’s top one hundred charities, in which he called on the third sector to lead the debate on the future of capacity building. “Government has invested heavily over the last ten years in building the sector’s capacity” said Bubb “But we cannot expect to see the same kind of investment in the next decade”.

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More than a quarter of charity chief executive officers (CEOs) have had their pay frozen in the past year according to a new pay survey by the Association of Charity Chief Executives (ACEVO). The survey released today reveals that 28% of charity chief executives have experienced a remuneration freeze in response to economic conditions over the last year. The pay of smaller charity CEOs fell by an average 9.1%. This contrasts with a 10% average rise in the salaries of the CEOs of the FTSE 100 companies over the same period. [Download press release]

ACEVO and Community Union have won Union Modernisation Fund (UMF) backing for an exciting new project based in Rotherham and Leicester. The project will build links between Community Union members and third sector organisations. [Download press release]

ACEVO have appointed Liam Cranley to the role of Head of ImpACT. Liam’s role will be to coordinate and integrate the activities of the ImpACT Coalition across ACEVO. He will report to Seb Elsworth, the Director of Strategy, and work closely with ACEVO’s press and policy teams. [Download press release]

 A new poll released today by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) reveals a dangerous perception gap between the public’s understanding of charities and the reality which could lead to an erosion of trust and confidence in ‘the special relationship’ the public has with charities. [Download press release]

Stephen Bubb has been appointed to a high profile sponsor group on the MacLeod review on employee engagement to guide the delivery of the report’s recommendations. The group will also play a crucial role in raising the profile of the topic amongst Chief Executives. [Download press release]

A new taskforce advising ministers on the third sector's role in tackling climate change has been established, with ACEVO represented on the taskforce by Tom Flood, ACEVO board member and chair of the ACEVO Sustainabilty Special Interest Group. Tom will also play a key role as a member of the new Defra advisory board. [Download press release]

ACEVO have launched a taskforce to help shape the £1.4 billion Future jobs Fund announced by DWP in last week’s Budget. The taskforce’s members include; The Social Enterprise Coalition, Community Alliance and Futurebuilders England. The group will be chaired by ACEVO’s CEO, Stephen Bubb and Jonathan Bland, Chief Executive of The Social Enterprise Coalition is to be Vice Chair. [Download press release]

It is announced that ACEVO is to take over the running of the ImpACT Coalition following talks with the Institute of Fundraising. ImpACT’s agenda is to improve transparency and accountability, and has been based at the Institute of Fundraising for the last two years. The move to ACEVO comes at a time where there is a clear need to focus on engaging with chief executives to drive the behaviour changing coalition on to its next level. [Download press release]

Responding to today’s budget announcement, ACEVO’s Chief Executive Stephen Bubb says: “This is the best third sector budget for a long time. The Government now needs to work with us on implementation to make the most of the opportunities and to minimise the potential damage of forthcoming efficiency savings. [Download press release]

As we enter the new financial year, ACEVO is calling upon third sector leaders to make reducing their organisation’s carbon footprint a priority. To aid this transition ACEVO has launched The Sustainability Challenge: implications for chief executives in the third sector which examines the role of third sector chief executives in implementing environmentally sustainable practices in their organisation. [Download press release]

ACEVO announce the launch of a new website designed to offer all third sector organisations tools and guidance to support them during the recession. www.recessionsupport.org.ukwill act as a platform for third sector organisations to share ideas, find support services and get the latest news on the recession. [Download press release]

Following on from their recent publication Theway ahead: trade unions and the third sector, ACEVO has set up a working group of third sector Chief Executives to examine and advise on the most appropriate support and guidance for sector leaders to engage more effectively with employees. [Download press release]

Lesley-Anne Alexander, Chief Executive of The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), has been appointed Chair of The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO). The announcement was made at ACEVO’s AGM, held at Portcullis House this morning. [Download press release]

Peter Mandelson, business secretary, today launched a package of support to address the cash flow, credit and capital needs of businesses. In a letter to Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO, Mandelson has confirmed that “Government support for business is for all businesses, including the Third Sector.” [Download press release]

The steering group for the Code of Good Governance has today announced its aspirations for how the code should evolve and outlined its action plan for the coming year. The membership of the steering group is made up of representatives from a wide range of different organisations who share a core interest in good governance in the third sector. The group has significant ambitions for how the code should evolve. [Download press release]