The report is based on a series of conversations with communities across the island under the banner of the iCommunity project, a joint initiative of The Wheel, the national association of charities, and NICVA.

The report identifies an ambitious programme of work for civil society stakeholders to advance on a shared island basis. It sets out a new vision for increased all-Ireland collaboration on shared challenges, including climate action, rural development, and digital connectivity and remote work.

The iCommunity project is supported by the Shared Island Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund, and the Northern Ireland Executive’s Department for Communities.

See more on the iCommunity Hub

‘iCommunity’ holds in-depth discussions at five workshops on all-Island collaboration to meet the big challenges of our time.

Following initial introductory online events during February and March, the joint NICVA/The Wheel ‘iCommunity’ project to promote all-island sector collaboration on key shared challenges, held five hybrid workshops in Dublin and Belfast between April and June.  At these events, sector organisations explore the challenges and opportunities which exist to collaborate to tackle shared challenges of - Rural connectivity and sustainability, Developing the Island Economy/Social Enterprise, Delivering a sustainable, de-carbonized and biodiverse island, Digital connectivity and inclusion, and Post-Covid recovery.

Working with Government to Encourage the Best Possible Funding Relationships

Over the last quarter, NICVA’s Head of Policy & Public Affairs, Geoff Nuttall has been chairing a “Funding Relationship’ Task and Finish sub-group of voluntary/community sector and government representatives from the Government/Voluntary Sector Joint Forum. The group is gathering information and sharing experiences and perspectives as funder and funded, of the different types of funding relationships and models that exist between government and voluntary and community sector. Drawing on previous research in this area and on newly gathered information, the group will develop recommendations for developing best practice principles in government funding of voluntary/community organisations.

Supporting the work of the Joint Government and Voluntary Sector Forum

During this period, the PPA Team continued to support the work of the Joint Government and Voluntary Sector Forum (Joint Forum) and its Voluntary and Community Sector panel (VCS Panel). This included a meeting of the full Joint Forum meeting held on 13 April 2022, where representatives came together for a full day in- person workshop to agree and finalise a future development path for the Joint Forum as we prepare for a new political mandate. In addition, there were a number of Joint Chairs meetings held to plan and prepare for this and future Joint Forum activities and developments. In this quarter alongside JF panel representatives and our DfC colleagues as Joint Secretariat to the Forum, we also participated in a range of wider meetings linked to the Forums ongoing development and workplan.

As detailed earlier, acting as Chair and Secretariat to the Funding Relationship’ Task and Finish sub-group of the Government/Voluntary Sector Joint Forum we continue to coordinate and support this group in delivery of its workplan.

Training

During the last quarter, the Policy and Public Affairs Team organised two training sessions outlining the political and legislative landscapes that govern Northern Ireland, as well as providing insight into how to engage with them.

In April, we were joined by Fiona Payne, Senior Education and Engagement Officer (NI) at Westminster, for an in-depth seminar examining how to engage with the Westminster Parliament. Providing attendees with the context on how policy and legislation is produced in Westminster, the session outlined ways and ideas on how to effectively plan and implement a lobbying and campaigning strategy. Discussions focused on an introduction to Parliament: Contacting MPs / Peers (Lords), the aspects of the scrutiny function of Parliament, Public Bill Committee evidence submissions, and the role of Select Committees and evidence submission. Following on from the Westminster training session, the NI Assembly Engagement Team provided a similar session for members in June. Attendees were joined by Janet Robinson, Kate McCollough and Emma Gray for an interactive one-hour training session designed to examine how politics affects our everyday life, the role of MLAs, the role of the legislature, the different legislative and policy development mechanism and how to engage with them.

Assembly Election 2022

In the run up to the NI Assembly Election 2022, the Policy and Public Affairs Team provided a platform for Voluntary and Community Sector organisations to publish their Manifesto. With 49 sector manifestos registered on the webpage, the Team promoted the information and resource on Social Media to the wider VCSE sector and the Political Parties.

The team also provided a details Twitter thread linking to each of the Political Party Manifestos, and following the election provided information on social media on the new MLAs in each area.

Public Affairs Forum

In addition to resuming the monthly Public Affairs Newsletter, the Team have organised an event for the Public Affairs Forum for the end of June. The aim of the event, “The Effectiveness of All Party Groups in the Northern Ireland Assembly”, is to enable policy and public affairs professionals from across the Voluntary and Community Sector an opportunity to hear from those who have engaged with APGs, listen to their experience and perhaps understand how things work well and how they could work better.

Attendees at the event will hear from Aoife Hamilton, Employers for Childcare (APG on Early Years and Childcare), Stephen Browne, Red Cross (APG on Preventing Loneliness), Niamh Flanagan, Theatre and Dance NI (APG on Arts), and Kerry Boyd, Autism NI (APG on Autism). There will also be an opportunity for discussion and questions at the end.

Membership of Key Working Groups and Coalitions

Throughout this quarter the PPA Team continued to represent and support the work and interests of the sector via membership of a range of key local and national key working groups, coalitions, and alliances, including:

• All Island Democratic Innovation Network
• The Civil Society Alliance
• The Equality Coalition
• NI Anti-Poverty Strategy Design Group
• ICP Third Sector Steering Group hosted by the regional Health and Social Care Board
• ICP Third Sector Forum
• Brexit & Human Rights Working Group

Providing Timely Information and Resources

During this quarter we continued to respond to information requests from across the sector and beyond and provided up to date information and guidance on subjects relevant to the sector via timely articles published on the NICVA website on subjects ranging from the development of UK Government Funds to the NI Assembly.

Examples include:

NI Assembly dissolved in advance of upcoming Assembly Elections 2022 | NICVA

https://www.nicva.org/article/uk-government-host-information-webinar-for-northern-ireland-applicants-to-round-2-of-the

https://www.nicva.org/article/uk-government-levelling-up-fund-round-2

Groups attended

ICP Steering Group

Civil Society Alliance

All Island Democratic Innovation Network

ICP Third Sector Forum

Events attended

NI Parenting Mental Health Conference

Looking Beyond Brexit Conference

Deafblind Friendly Scheme Training

NICVA’s Research Activities 

Workforce and Volunteers Survey 2022

The Workforce and Volunteers Survey 2022 was disseminated in October 2021 and reissued in January 2022 to all NICVA member organisations. The survey focused on profiling the VCSE Sector workforce and included recruitment and retention issues, employee enhancements, payscales and pensions and funding. A report of the findings can be accessed here Workforce and Volunteers 2021 | NICVA

Individual Giving 2022

The Individual Giving Survey 2022 was commissioned by NICVA in December 2021 and distributed in January 2022. This survey allowed NICVA to gather data from members of the public in Northern Ireland to map their patterns of donating to charity. Changes in these patterns and methods of giving were also measured. A report of the findings can be accessed here Individual Charitable Giving 2022 | NICVA. A further article on the findings can be accessed here Top 10 Results from NICVA’s Annual Individual Charitable Giving Survey 2022 | NICVA

Engagement with Members Survey 2022

The Engagement with Members Survey 2022 was disseminated in May 2022 to all NICVA member organisations. This survey sought to ascertain levels of satisfaction with NICVA’s services, in particular GrantTracker. Results will be available in due course.

NIVCA’s Members Views Survey 2022

The Members Views Survey was also disseminated in May 2022 to all NICVA member organisations. This survey focused on members views of a range of issues including the Northern Ireland Protocol. An article discussing the findings can be viewed here NICVA members give their views on getting NI government back | NICVA .

 

“It’s hard to find good people… and then keep them!” Sound familiar?

It’s a phrase I hear more and more, and perhaps that phrase resonates with you and your organisation too.

I started Workplus to change and grow the culture of apprenticeships in Northern Ireland; to create more opportunities for people to earn and learn, to be plugged into mentoring and have a job from the outset.

The change aspect was also important. Many people (and organisations) still view apprenticeships through very traditional lenses of being confined to trades, and employers are surprised when I tell them there are over 150 apprenticeship pathways, from business admin, finance, sales and marketing to software development and engineering.

The good news is that more employers are thinking again about their recruitment strategy and are now growing their talent through apprenticeships – ‘growing their own’ so to speak – and seeing the benefits in terms of performance and retention.

I came across some interesting research by Young Social Innovators that is good news for the community and voluntary sector. When young people were asked what they felt was a sign of a successful life, their top answer was ‘Making a difference to your community/world’. 

‘Making a difference’ – scoring top above financial security and home ownership! It’s heartening to know that this is how the next generation are thinking.

Please do get in touch if you’d like to know more. Contact us through our Workplus website or via Sandra Bailie at NICVA. The Workplus You Tube channel features testimonials from employers and apprentices who are experiencing the many benefits of apprenticeships.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Joint Forum (JF)  is made up of representatives from Government (known as the Public Sector Group) and the Voluntary and Community Sector (known as the Voluntary and Community Sector or VCS Panel).

The Forum’s membership comprises 15 community and voluntary sector representatives from across the sector, and a variety of senior public sector representatives from across NI central government departments and local government and agencies.

Recent Joint Forum Meeting

On Tuesday 22nd February, Joint Forum members came together for the third full Joint Forum meeting of this current term and it's first meeting of 2022.

Chaired by Anne-Marie McClure, Start 360, in her role as Joint Forum Co-Chair and Chair of the VCS Panel, the Forum’s membership had a full agenda to consider. Delivered online, this was an energised meeting with good cross sectoral representation and lively exchange and discussion despite the virtual limitations.

Issues under discussion included updates on the work of the current Joint Forum Task and Finish Groups convened to take forward and address key priority issues of interest to the Forum and an update on the development of the Building Resilience Together: Role of the VCS in the NI Civil Contingencies Framework.

Facilitated by Colin Stutt, SIB, a substantive part of the meeting was then given over to breakout groups and discussion exploring ‘The Way Forward’ in terms of future development of the Joint Forum, in the context of a new political mandate and how the Forum shall structure its work programme to manage this process in a timely and coherent manner. A full day workshop was proposed for later in April to refine and agree members proposals regarding.

Joint Forum Task and Finish Groups

As per our last update, in line with the Joint Forums work plan for this new term, a number of thematic Task and Finish Groups have been established.

These cross sectoral groups made up of representatives from across the VCS and public sector are driving forward priority issues of interest identified via the Joint Forum work plan.

A subgroup looking at Communication and Engagement has been established and is taking forward a range of agreed communication and engagement deliverables in support of the overall Joint Forum agenda and work plan, including ensuring the Joint Forums work and proceedings are effectively communicated to help inform and shape future government policy and practice.

A task and finish group examining the Funding Relationship between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector, is meeting monthly and is currently undertaking preparatory work on the development of recommendations to inform creation of a set Fair Funding Principles that will address key issues in relation to government funding practices and approaches to the VCSE sector. This includes reviewing best practice both locally and nationally.

Both groups have now finalised their Terms of Reference and agreed a work plan which will guide their key activities and outputs over the coming months and help lay the foundation for a future work programme for the Joint Forum.

JF Voluntary and Community Sector Panel 

 JF Voluntary and Community Sector Panel  representatives have continued  to meet regularly and take forward a range of activities including:  2 meetings of the VCS Panel to plan and prepare for their input to wider Joint  Forum meetings and events, a half day online workshop with SIB to consider and agree  thinking on future planning and direction for the Joint Forum, planning meetings with JF Joint Chairs and Secretariat and  meetings with other key stakeholders groups and agencies  , including the Belfast City Council Voluntary and Community Sector Panel and the regional HSCB.

In late January, representatives from the JF Voluntary and Community Sector Panel, met with colleagues from the Directorate of Planning & Commissioning at the Health and Social Care Board and the Co-Chair of the Regional Social Prescribing Development Board, Joanne Morgan (Leonard Cheshire) to discuss effective voluntary and community sector engagement in the ongoing work of the Development Board. They also discussed how individual Voluntary and Community Sector Panel members, where appropriate, can best support engagement with the work of the Development Board, across their own sectors/community of interest.

Joanne and colleagues detailed that the SP Development Board considers its role to be a champion for social prescribing, to positively influence and inform commissioning around social prescribing, consider impact, and inform evaluation and understanding of social prescribing methodologies, to identify key challenges and actions to address barriers to progress for social prescribing and provide a collective voice as appropriate.

Joanne outlined that the SP Development Board should provide a space for a collective of representatives to come together to share knowledge and insights; be a mechanism to amplify the  voice/experiences  of those who have come through the social prescribing pathway; to build collective understanding of social prescribing; to map and examine the global evidence and outcomes from social prescribing activity across NI; to consider and learn from good practice elsewhere and  to agree a collective vision for the role of social prescribing in NI and work to embed that vision in relevant strategy and policy including community planning.  

It is also intended that the SP Development Board will work with the emerging health and social care Integrated Care System (ICS) being developed and led by the Department of Health to ensure alignment with new ways of working.

Following this session two JF Voluntary and Community Sector Panel representatives have recently been confirmed as voluntary and community representatives to the Regional Social Prescribing Development Board. These are Judith Poucher,  Clanrye Group and Karen Smith, Disability Action.

What’s Coming Up Next?

The next full Joint Forum meeting is scheduled to take place on the 13th April 2022, where representatives will come together for a full day in- person workshop to agree and finalise a future development path for the Joint Forum as we prepare for a new political mandate. Alongside this a busy schedule of work continues to be taken forward by the Joint Forum’s membership and it's Secretariat via the specialist task and finish groups and wider external meetings.

For more information on the Joint Forum including links to recent updates and the full list of current Voluntary and Community Sector representatives, please visit here.

If you have any questions or queries about the Joint Forum, please get in touch with the NICVA Secretariat via [email protected]

Statement for immediate release:

NICVA welcomes the proposal today in Finance Minister Conor Murphy’s Assembly budget statement for a way to close the current match-funding gap faced by over 50 community and voluntary organisations working to help over 17,000 vulnerable people into employment. 

Around £20 million of EU funding from Northern Ireland’s final European Social Fund programme has been approved for this crucial work but must be matched by around £14 million of NI government funding. However, approximately £8 million of this match-funding has still not been committed, despite an impending 31st March 2022 deadline for the necessary funding to be secured by organisations.

NICVAs Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Geoff Nuttall said:

“The Minister’s proposal to make extra funding available to the Economy Minister in order to close this current funding gap is greatly welcomed.  NICVA hopes that this potential solution will be implemented as soon as possible to ensure these vital support services can continue in these challenging economic times.”

Ends

Contact Geoff Nuttall at [email protected]

 

Political Update & Restoration of the Assembly

The December 2019 General Election was a decisive one which saw the Conservatives achieve a landslide majority in the House of Commons and also a shake up in the Northern Ireland representation at Westminster. A full breakdown of results and analysis can be found here. The beginning of 2020 also saw the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive after three years of stagnation. The deal that paved the way for the restoration of power-sharing, 'New Decade, New Approach', includes numerous commitments to address the ongoing challenges here in relation to our public services, particularly the health service, education, housing, justice and a commitment to grow the economy. For a more detailed breakdown of the deal, see here.

Make sure to keep up to date with what's going on in the Assembly via our weekly Assembly Insider by signing up here.

Environment Strategy Consultation

In the autumn of 2019 the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs launched a consultation into an Environment Strategy for Northern Ireland. To encourage and facilitate a sector-wide response, NICVA and the NI Environment Link held an event in early November 2019 to provide the sector with an opportunity to have their say on what this strategy should look like. The result of this collaborative discussion was the development of a 'Common Purpose' statement which sets out key actions and principles that are required to create an Environment fit for current and future generations. For more information on this and to sign up to our Common Purpose, see here.

Joint Forum Updates

The current term of the Joint Forum finishes at the end of March after a challenging three years, mostly in the absence of a functioning government in NI. During the past year, there has been a refocusing on the issue of Addressing Bureaucracy and working to try and troubleshoot some of the bureaucratic issues that impact organisations in this sector. The issue of disproportionate bureaucracy in government funding is a key issue of discussion in Joint Forum meetings. The Voluntary and Community Sector group of the Joint Forum have established a sub-group to review bureaucracy in government funding and are working alongside public sector colleagues to try and find a resolution to these issues. The final meeting of the Joint Forum for the 2017-2020 term will take place on 5 March 2020 in NICVA where members will be joined by Department for Communities Permanent Secretary Tracy Meharg.

Recruitment is now open for the new Joint Forum voluntary and community sector panel. To submit a nomination, click here.

Sustainable Development Goals Working Group

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Working Group jointly established last year by NICVA and NI Environment Link has finalised their key ask of Government, seeking to encourage the design of the future Northern Ireland Programme for Government around the SDGs. The ask is that -

The future Programme for Government for Northern Ireland be designed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals and measures progress against them. 

This would ensure that:

• The wellbeing of our citizens is embedded into decision making in government in Northern Ireland
• Partnership and collaboration within government and across other sectors is at the core of government delivery.
• Offer an additional mechanism to monitor progress towards delivering Programme for Government outcomes.
• A common language can be embedded across all sectors of civic society and internationally
• Northern Ireland becomes a leader in meeting its commitments to the UN SDGs

More information on the SDG working group here.

Dormant Accounts

In December we hosted an event for the sector to help shape our response to the recent National Lottery Community Fund  consultation on delivery of a Dormant Accounts Fund for Northern Ireland. Under the direction of the Department of Finance, the National Lottery Community Fund has been tasked to deliver the Dormant Accounts Fund in NI. Around £16 million the funding for NI has accrued over the last 10 years and the Department of Finance has determined that this funding should benefit the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector by helping grow its resilience, increasing capacity and encouraging sustainability.

We were delighted to make a detailed response to the consultation, which contains key insight from the sector regarding how the fund might have best impact. You can read our response here.

Research Updates

Future Issues: We updated State of the Sector in January 2020 and includes the findings from the Cashless Giving Survey 2019 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Awareness Viewfinder 2019. Access full report of the findings here.

Individual Giving 2020: This survey is undertaken on an annual basis and collates information on charitable giving from members of the public in Northern Ireland. Access full report of the findings here.

Rates Consultation

In October, NICVA met with members of the Charity Retail Association to discuss concerns that the latest review and consultation by the Department of Finance of the non-domestic rates system might result in the loss of rates relief for charities.  Using updated evidence and statistics, NICVA submitted its response to the consultation in November, making clear its argument that, unlike seeking a public contribution from private businesses through the rates system, charging charities rates simply reduces the public contribution and social and environmental benefits of charities' work by reducing their available resources as well as reducing the amount of goods recycled through charity shops.  We will be watching the results of the consultation closely.    

Resilience Board

NICVA's Head of Policy & Public Affairs has joined the new Belfast Resilience Board, a cross-sectoral group supporting Belfast City Council's work to develop a Resilience Strategy to meet key current and upcoming challenges for the City and its people.  The draft strategy was launched for consultation in February (see picture below) and highlights key issues the city must respond to and prepare for including climate change and the increasing risks of flooding, mental health and use of prescription drugs and cyber resilience.  The consultation runs until 10 April 2020, for more information and to submit a response follow this link

Launch of the draft Belfast Resilience Strategy at Portview Industrial Estate

PEACE Plus

In February we hosted an event for representatives from across the VCSE sector to help shape and inform our response to the current consultation on the new EU PEACE PLUS  funding programme 2021-2027. PEACE PLUS is a new cross-border EU funding programme which will succeed both of the current  PEACE IV  and INTERREG VA Programmes.

The Special EU Programmes Body  (SEUPB) responsible for implementation of this new programme attended the event to give an overview of its proposed aims and objectives. They also heard directly from sector representatives, views on key priorities for any future EU funding and how organisations and communities can best be supported to deliver on these. You can read more about this event here

Drawing on key messages from the consultation event we are currently finalising our response which shall be available soon via our usual communication channels.

Public Affairs Forum

The next meeting of the Public Affairs Forum will take place on 11 March in the Guildhall in Derry. This session will focus on engaging with the Derry City and Strabane District Council. For more details and to register to attend the session, click here.

Belfast based investigative website Detail Data has also found that the issue of housing intimidation has cost the Housing Executive more than £7.5million since 2012.

Information on where the majority of incidents have taken place suggests the involvement of loyalist paramilitaries.

Despite the number of incidents, the financial cost and the serious risk presented to victims, the PSNI has said it does not record housing intimidation in its own right, rather including it in an overarching category encompassing all forms of intimidation offences.

Detail Data was, however, able to use data from the Housing Executive and the Courts Service to reveal:

• Between 2012/13 and 2016/17 the Housing Executive spent £6,709,430 buying 57 houses from homeowners forced out of their property as a result of paramilitary, sectarian, racist, sexual orientation and disability related intimidation.
• The Housing Executive also paid out £808,174 in Emergency Grant Payments to over 1,000 householders who had to move from their rented homes due to intimidation during this five-year period.
• During the period, a total of 2,060 incidents of housing intimidation were accepted by the Housing Executive.
• A sample of data from the past two years also showed that the overwhelming majority of incidents were recorded in Belfast, Lisburn & Castlereagh, Ards & North Down and the Antrim & Newtownabbey council areas. A more detailed breakdown (eg by postcode, town) is not available.
• Court figures reveal that 32 convictions were secured for the offence of ‘intimidation - causing person to leave residence/occupation’ between 2011 and 2016.

To read the follow story click here

To access the data that supports the story click here

Examining disparities across a range of areas including education, health, employment, access to services and life expectancy and the resulting challenges for communities the story sets out a ‘league table’ of our local councils.

The data used in this project was sourced from: the Department of Finance and Personnel; the Department of Education; the Housing Executive; NI Statistics and Research Agency; the Department of Environment; and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

Key Findings:

• The new councils have inherited debt totalling more than £1billion, equivalent to nearly £550 for every person living in Northern Ireland.
• There is a difference of nearly 25% between the rates bills of similarly priced homes in different districts.
• Derry and Strabane council area is at the bottom of the table, with the highest rates, highest unemployment (8%) and highest free school meal eligibility, plus lower levels of life expectancy and some of the highest levels of housing stress.
• The gaps in transport infrastructure in Northern Ireland illustrate poor provision in an area running from Derry and Strabane, through Fermanagh and Omagh, to Newry, Mourne & Down.
• Many other councils show poor results, including Belfast where poverty and overcrowding in deprived areas is blamed for low life expectancy and high levels of housing stress.
• Antrim and Newtownabbey has the lowest level of educational attainment, with just 54% of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs (A* to C) including English and Maths.

Insight from 15 voluntary and community organisations highlights the impact of these disparities on their communities. Ursula Gallagher from Strabane Community Project, which operates within the Derry and Strabane council area, commented on the impact of high rates, high unemployment and high free school meal eligibility on the community, “We opened the [foodbank] services in 2013 and to date we have had nearly 1,600 people that have availed of the service. When you come to the foodbank it is your rock bottom. It makes you think how many people out there really do need these services”

Seamus McAleavey, Chief Executive of NICVA said, “The data uncovered in this first Detail Data story shows there are significant disparities in a range of areas - including education, health and employment - across council areas in Northern Ireland. Holding our Assembly and Executive to account is what many of our member organisations do and this “league table” will help them do that more effectively”.
 

To read the full story by Cormac Campbell, or to review the impact of disparities in each of the different council areas, click here.

To access the data used in this story on the Detail Data Portal, click here.