Article reprinted from Big Brummie's Blog:

Y'Know I'm a bit confused about this "Big Society" that the our cobbled together excuse for a government keeps droning on about. It seems to me that it will never work in Birmingham without massive changes in political ideology and purpose.

To try and make sense of this I was pointed in the direction of the Birmingham Association of Neighbourhood Forums ( BANF) an organisation staffed by volunteers that support Neighbourhood Forums at City level.

Now, Neighbourhood Forums are community groups run by and for local people. They provide an opportunity to discuss and influence the issues that affect local communities. Neighbourhood Forums can campaign on these issues and make representations to the appropriate organisations of statutory bodies.

Ah! So this is the Big Society you may be forgiven for thinking. And why not. It's all in place. A complete organisation. All run by volunteers. Perfect!

The only trouble is the Council must always re-invent the wheel. They can always do it better and this is no exception!

Any rational organisation would contact the Birmingham Association of Neighbourhood Forums to see how they can work together to make it more effective.

So what do they do? Starve BANF of funding. Take over running Forums themselves. Employ ten Neighbourhood Managers at approx £30,000 a time and fund an army of consultants.

What is the result.

The number of active Forums has reduced from seventy to a little over twenty.

This is Birmingham's Big Society.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles will need to deliver on the detail if the Localism Bill is to really help grow community enterprise
The government’s Localism Bill has been welcomed by sector commentators – but not without pointing to gaping holes in the detail.

Crucial elements are still to be decided, such as the length of time community groups will be given to try to buy a ‘listed’ community asset like a pub or shop and turn it into a social enterprise, before it is put on the open market.

This detail will be the subject of consultation on the Decentralisation and Localism Bill, which began its passage through parliament yesterday.

The Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC) has called yesterday’s announcements by communities secretary Eric Pickles a ‘double edged sword’. It says the positive elements in the bill, around community ownership of public assets and community-run public services, are under threat of being ignored by councils panicked about bringing down costs.

Councils have already been preparing to make savings in readiness for cuts as a result of the spending review, the latest local government workforce survey has found.

Key findings:

Even before the announcement of the spending review, many councils were taking action to reduce their workforce costs:

    * A recruitment freeze had already been implemented by 63 per cent of authorities.
    * Half of authorities had already reduced the number of staff posts.
    * Forty five per cent had reduced management costs.

There has been an increased used in remuneration panels for chief executives:

    * Nearly half of respondents (45 per cent) had remuneration committees, a significant increase on the 32 per cent who had committees in 2009. Read More

At the last Association Meeting, the speaker, Wendy Walsh asked for the  following information to be made available to all members - so here it is!

THE PLATFORM PROJECT

If you wish to become more active in your community & influence how services are delivered to you, there are two available training sessions    a) Influencing Services

                 b) Residents Engagement

Sessions are local & free & include food & refreshments

Contact Denise Boardman on 0121 748 8184 or email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

PLATFORM PARTNERSHIP – GUIDE NEIGHBOURHOODS STUDY VISITS

If you want to find out how people have transformed their local neighbourhoods in other areas, contact Ian Bingham on 0121 748 8114 or email on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ARE YOU A VOLUNTEER?

Training available via Castle Vale Community Regeneration Services

Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 0121 748 8178

BIRMINGHAM TOTAL PLACE PILOT

This seems to be about how public services can deliver more support for less money.

It is a 99 page document produced by www.bebirmingham.org.uk.

MOVE IT OR LOSE IT

See details of Julie Robinson’s DVD.  

Julie is a specialist in exercise for the less mobile.

Using the DVD (put together at one of Julie’s Exercise Classes), you can help to keep yourself mobile in the comfort of your own home.

The DVD cost £9 + £1.50 p&p and comes with free exercise band!

Order online at www.moveitorloseit.co.uk or ring freephone 0800 612 0450

 Designing collaborative action for organisations and communities

3 day Leadership Development Course

BVSC in partnership with Interaction Institute for Social Change offer you the chance to take part in IISC's Making Collaboration Work TM.

The Making Collaboration Work workshop highlights the dual role of both designing and facilitating collaborative change processes.

Your involvement in the workshop is from the point of view of the participant as an initiator or member of a collaborative initiative.
What you will learn

 By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

    * Present a clear rationale to a group of stakeholders about why a collaborative approach to your particular issue is best
    * Convene and facilitate a diverse group or team to agree on key elements of a collaborative change process and to guide the work
    * Complete a stakeholder analysis that identifies key stakeholders (supporters and potential blockers) and that describes how and when key stakeholders will be involved
    * Work with others to create an ‘involvement map’ for the collaborative initiative and facilitate stakeholder meetings to obtain input and build ownership of the process
    * Apply facilitation techniques to guide the group’s or community’s work throughout the different phases of the change process
    * Guide groups to balance success across three dimensions: results, process, and relationships
    * Assess your own and the group’s (or others) resistance and adaption to working collaboratively and develop strategies for dealing with this

Birmingham epitomises the plight of England's regions, as summed up in two new landmark reports.

Gillian Robinson has a certificate resting precariously on the stereo of her neat home in the Ladywood area of Birmingham. It marks her nomination as resident of the year in what is officially the country’s most deprived ward.

She deserves the accolade. Twice last year she was made redundant, first from her job as area manager of an office cleaning company and then from a residents association that was backed by Birmingham City Council. The council made cutbacks, so it let her go.

The Birmingham Association of Neighbourhood Forums (BANF) is a city-wide umbrella organisation. It aims to provide neighbourhood forums with the necessary support to ensure that they are as effective as possible in involving and representing local people.

Association meetings are held eight times per annum to which each neighbourhood forum is entitled to send two representatives.

BANF is a company limited by guarantee and is run by a management committee elected on an annual basis by representatives of the individual neighbourhood forums.

Experts believe neighbourhood partnerships are the best way to bring about the improvements needed to improve quality of life and safeguard towns and cities against climate change.

A new report from the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) says a neighbourhood-based approach is the most cost-effective way to upgrade local infrastructure.