In response to the MOJ consultation on Transforming Rehabilitation ACEVO has made a series of practical recommendations to help strengthen and support voluntary and community sector delivery of rehabilitation services, highlighting in particular the issue of contract size, the design of payment by results contracts and supply chain models to help implement the Rehabilitation Revolution.

ACEVO is urging the MOJ to work with the third sector, on:

• Contract size: ACEVO is concerned that the 16 Contract Package Areas may impede the Ministry’s aims to bring in a more diverse mix of providers.  The programme would benefit enormously from the expertise voluntary and community sector providers in prime contractor roles.

• Design of payment by results structures: The Ministry should seek to design contracts with a Payments By Result element of around 20%, with 80% guaranteed service fees. A 20% PBR element would be large enough to create a significant financial incentive to achieve high performance, whilst enabling a diverse range of providers to participate in delivery.

• Supply chain models: The Ministry must explore the alternative options including a frequency-based Payments By Results model, or a model which rewards certain agreed interim outcomes on the pathway to full rehabilitation, such as access to Education, Training and Employment services, or access to housing.

Welcoming the opportunity to comment on the MoJ’s plans to transform rehabilitation services, ACEVO CEO Sir Stephen Bubb said” The MOJ has a chance to work with the sector to tackle reoffending. Our responses to questions have highlighted a number of measures that could strengthen voluntary and community sector participation in the delivery of rehabilitation services. The sector has an enormous amount of experience working with the hardest to reach and successfully preventing reoffending. It’s essential that this knowledge is used if the Rehabilitation Revolution is to succeed.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

About ACEVO:

ACEVO is the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and we are the leading voice for chief executives in the third sector. With over 2,000 members nationwide, we support, develop, connect and represent third sector leaders.

www.acevo.org.uk

Charity leaders are today calling for urgent and radical reform of the criminal justice system. With prison population figures at record levels, reoffending rates stubbornly high and the Ministry of Justice facing a 23% budget cut, the charities argue that as an economy and as a society, we simply cannot afford to continue with the self-defeating status quo. ACEVO’s Reducing Reoffending taskforce is therefore urging Government to re-energise their commitment for a genuine Rehabilitation Revolution and work with the third sector to make sure it does not fall off track.

Back on Track, the Taskforce’s final report, launched today, encourages Government to be progressive and bold in their vision for reform. This means facing up to resistance from those committed to the “throw away the key” approach, and close a number of prisons in order to free up significant resource to invest in rehabilitating offenders far more effectively.

The report makes a series of practical recommendations to Government to help implement the Rehabilitation Revolution and succeed where previous administrations have not in tackling the engrained problem of reoffending.

The report urges Government to work with the third sector to:

-          FREE UP RESOURCES NOW: by redirecting the money used for discharge grants by ensuring that all prisoners leave with the basics set up before they leave the prison gate; benefits, housing, GP, bank accounts and access to the Work Programme. Secondly by making greater use of community sentences, giving probation officials more discretion and evaluating alternative provision for elderly offenders. The taskforce believes this could save as much as £40-70m per annum which could be invested as seed-corn funding for the new system and innovative ways of rehabilitating offenders.

-          REFORM HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS: creating a new system that delivers more effective and joined up services working with offenders to prevent recidivism.

-          REFORM COMMISSIONING: to ensure a level playing field between providers with services being commissioned on evidenced value not price; by reforming public sector pensions; tackling conflicts of interest by ensuring a split between commissioners and providers and extending the Right to Challenge so that voluntary groups can challenge poor services where they see them.

-          ENSURE DELIVERY MODELS DO NOT DISADVANTAGE THE THIRD SECTOR: by making sure that payment by results can work for the sector; ensuring that prime contractors are financially incentivised to manage their supply chains and to focus resources disproportionally on those offenders who are more problematic and therefore more costly to the tax payer; one that supports the key principle of competitive tendering based on quality outcomes not purely on price.

ACEVO’s taskforce was chaired by Rob Owen, chief executive of St Giles Trust - a leading charity with an impressive track record of tackling reoffending.

Speaking on the recommendations of ACEVO’s taskforce, Rob Owen said,

“It’s clear that the criminal justice system in this country needs a radical overall. With fewer resources and rising prison rates we have an impending crisis on our hands which will only drive higher rates of crime and ultimately lead to thousands, if not hundreds of thousands more victims of crime; and, more worryingly, drive the destructive inter-generational cycle of crime yet further.

“Government promised a Rehabilitation Revolution, the principles of which this taskforce strongly supports. But as charities tackling, at the frontline, the cycle of reoffending we are extremely concerned that the Government is in danger of letting these principles be overcome by resistance from the 'Warehouse and throw away the key' school of thought, particularly after the August riots. Without urgent and radical reform, this revolution may well fall off track. For the wellbeing of society and for the hard pressed taxpayer we cannot afford for this to happen.

“Government needs to remain confident and bold in its commitment to the Rehabilitation Revolution and, if it is to deliver, work with us, the third sector, to help build an intelligent inter sectorial partnership to tackle reoffending. We are a sector with a long and impressive track record of working with the hardest to reach and successfully preventing reoffending – this knowledge must be central to the reforms if the Rehabilitation Revolution is to meet expectations.”

The taskforce put their recommendations to Minister Crispin Blunt and look forward to receiving a formal response.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About ACEVO:

ACEVO is the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and we are the leading voice for chief executives in the third sector. With over 2,000 members  nationwide, we support, develop, connect and represent third sector leaders.

www.acevo.org.uk

About Rob Owen

Rob Owen is Chief Executive of St Giles Trust, a multi award winning charity that helps break the cycle of re-offending. The cornerstone of St Giles services is their innovative use of trained ex-offenders who use their first hand experiences to provide services to others. Key services for St Giles revolve around housing and employment, providing intensive support to people leaving prison, work with gang members and work with families and children.  They also work with disadvantaged people in the community.

St Giles Trust was recently voted Britain’s Most Innovative Charity, as well as being a Charity of the Year award winner, a Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to work for winner and excitingly the first organisation to deliver the ‘Social Impact Bond’.

Previously Rob was an Investment Banker working in London, New York and Tokyo. He has led multiple arctic and high altitude expeditions raising money for charity and is a published author on the subject of sports sponsorship.

Members of the taskforce:

• Paul Jenkins, Chief Executive, Rethink
• Clare Jones, Joint Chief Executive,  WomenCentre
• Ginny Lunn, Director of Policy and Development, Prince’s Trust
• Clive Martin, Director, Clinks
• Andrea McCubbin, Development Director, Blue Sky Development
• Paul McDowell, CEO, Nacro
• Joyce Moseley, Chief Executive, Catch22 (replaced by new Catch 22 CEO – Chris Wright – on her retirement)
• Steve Rawlins, Regional Manager, Time For Families

[Download the press release here]

The ACEVO Commission on Youth Unemployment is warning that tomorrow’s youth unemployment figures are likely to be a “wake up call” to all those concerned about the future of young people in the UK, as new NIESR research undertaken for the Commission, and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, sheds new light on young people’s experiences of being unemployed, inactive and/or NEET (not in education, employment or training).

[Download the press release here]

ACEVO Chief Executive Sir Stephen Bubb will say in his speech to the ACEVO North Conference on Thursday that the time for warm words is over and that it is time to go 'full throttle' on public service reform in order to prevent public spending cuts from translating into a £81 billion-sized bombshell on vulnerable communities. He will also urge local government to avoid short-sighted and disproportionate cuts to voluntary-sector budgets, as a new survey of ACEVO members reveals more than a third have already seen their funding cut by 20% or more.

[Download the press release in full here]

David Miliband is to chair a taskforce set up by ACEVO on youth unemployment, reporting in winter 2011. The taskforce will be chaired by Rt. Hon. David Miliband MP, with a small number of othercommissioners from across different sectors taking part as commissioners, including Katherine Kerswell (CEO, Kent County Council), Prof. Paul Gregg (Bristol University),Baroness Stedman-Scott (CEO of the charity Tomorrow’s People), and onathan Portes (Director, National Institute for Economic and Social Research).

[Download the press release here]

The Government has pledged to increase transparency in central and local government spending on the voluntary sector as part of its response to the ACEVO Commission on Big Society report. The pledge was made at a meeting between Nick Hurd (Minister for Civil Society), Lord Rennard (Chair of the ACEVO Commission), Dame Clare Tickell, Nick Boles MP, Lord Boateng (members of the ACEVO Commission) and Sir Stephen Bubb (CEO of ACEVO).

[Read the Commission's final report]

[Download the press release here]

On the eve of the Government’s re launch of Big Society and the launch of a White Paper on Giving , the Chair of the cross party Commission on Big Society has written to the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude asking for a meeting to discuss the Commission’s recent report.

The Commission was established by the charity leaders’ body ACEVO in December 2010. It brought together politicians from across the political spectrum and civil society leaders including Lord Rennard, Nick Boles MP, Lord Boateng, the Bishop of London and charity CEOs such as Dame Clare Tickell.

[Read the Commission's final report]

[Download the press release here]

The charity leaders’ body, ACEVO, has today welcomed Government’s plans outlined in the Giving White Paper to make giving both ‘easier’ and more ‘compelling’, but says Government still needs to “fill in the gaps” in their plans for building Big Society as identified by last week’s Commission on Big Society report.

Plans outlined today in the Government’s Giving White Paper cover both measures to increase giving and social action in the UK, including the introduction of a social action fund and reforms to the gift aid system, but ACEVO says whilst this is good news for the  sector it will not fill the £1bn funding gap that the voluntary sector  faces in the year ahead.

The final report by the cross party Commission on Big Society (established by ACEVO) found that only 13% of the public thought the government had a clear plan for building big society, and called for a variety of steps to ensure all parts of Whitehall pull their weight on the Prime Minister’s priority agenda. The report, “Powerful people, responsible society”, also called for a sea change in how businesses approached the Big Society agenda, in particular banks, calling on UK banks to commit a minimum of 1% of their pre tax profits to charities.

[Read the Commission's final report]

[Download the press release here]

A year on from the Prime Minister’s launch of the Big Society programme an independent, cross party Commission are calling on Government to “fill in the blanks” on Big Society.

Powerful people, responsible society, the Commission’s final report launched today, embraces the Big Society as an agenda that “should transcend party politics” but criticises Government for failing to articulate a clear plan on Big Society, as research conducted by the Commission finds that only 13% of the public believe the Government has a clear plan for Big Society.

[Read the Commission's final report]

[Download the press release here] 

New research by ippr North and ACEVO released today finds that many Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the North are missing out on the added value and benefits available to them by failing to engage effectively with local voluntary organisations and social enterprise.

[Download the press release here] 

[Download an image of Lord Rennard here]

Lord Rennard, former chief executive of the Liberal Democrats, is to Chair a Commission on Big Society bringing together high profile political and civil society thinkers including; The Bishop of London, Philip Collins (Chair of Demos and leader writer for the Times), Dame Clare Tickell (CEO of Action for Children and leader of the Government’s review of early years services) Nick Boles MP (PPS to Minister of State for Schools, Nick Gibbs MP) and Paul Boateng (former Chief Secretary to the Treasury and former High Commissioner to South Africa. The Commission on Big Society launched today is being formed by charity leaders’ body ACEVO in order to articulate a civil society vision for what charity leaders want to achieve through the Big Society agenda, and to recommend practical steps that Government, third sector organisations and others need to take to make that vision a reality.

[Download the press release here]

Stephen Bubb told the ACEVO annual conference today that while sector leaders face "turbulent and tough times ahead", the opportunities for the sector to deliver more public services could see it increase its income in key areas by up to  2billion.

[Download the press release here]

The National Commission on Personalisation’s final report released today warns that whilst personalisation presents the biggest opportunity in decades for a revolution of our public services, unless charities and local authorities work  together and Government puts the necessary underpinnings in place,personalisation and ultimately Cameron’s plans for a ‘people power revolution will fail.

[Download the press release here]

The Lambeth Commission on personalisation has today launched its final report focusing on how the third sector can ‘Survive and Thrive’ through radical reforms in public service delivery and deep public spending cuts. In particular, the reportaddresses how third sector organisations in Lambeth can adapt to the government’s ive to devolve power to service users through the personalisation of public services.

[Download the press release here]

In a lecture marking the tenth anniversary of his leadership of ACEVO, Stephen Bubb will give a warning this afternoon on the danger of a breakdown of political consensus over the role of charities, and of party politicisation of the charity endeavour.

[Download the press release here]

A new poll released today by ACEVO, the leading representative body for charity leaders reveals that almost 4 out of 5 (78%) members of the public are concerned about how cuts to public services will affect the most vulnerable members of society. This is why, in a new report by ACEVO and a joint letter (signed by 370 leaders) to the Chancellor, charity leaders are calling on Government to establish a new "Fairness Star Chamber" to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected throughout the process of cuts to public services. The report argues that the “Fairness Star Chamber” would also provide a forum for charities and Government to look at ways of working together to 'square the circle' of cutting spending whilst sticking to the government's stated aim of protecting those most in need.

[Download the press release here]

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."

[Download the press release here]

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.

[Download the press release here]

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".

[Download the press release here]

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.

[Download the press release here]

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."

[Download the press release here]

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."

[Download the press release here]

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.

[Download the press release here]

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.

[Download the press release here]

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.

[Download the press release here]

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.

[Download the press release here]

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’.

[Downlaod the press release here]

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.

[Download the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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”.

 [Download the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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 the press release here]

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.