North East
VCS Engage work in the North East region is building upon both
the Regional Youth Work Unit and NCVCCO infrastructure and
work.
Mapping of the key contacts for the children,
youth and families VCS in each Local Authority area can be found
here [pdf 29kb].
Black and Minority Ethnic VCS
Activity is
taking place through the Coalition for Action on Diversity and
Equality (CADE) project, which is funded until March 2009 by the
Regional Development Agency, One North East.
This project aims to support the development of local and regional
infrastructure to support organisations working with diverse and
under-represented communities. Therefore the RDM is looking to join
up work here to support the BME VCS engagement with the Every Child
Matters agenda, through relevant local children, youth and
families’ networks and infrastructure.
Additional support
As in other regions,
focused support is going to three areas, where Local Authorities
will complete a Self Evaluation Tool (SET) to establish how
effective their engagement with the VCS is, in order to develop an
action plan for development. The areas involved are:
Redcar and Cleveland
Darlington
South Tyneside
Good practice
The RDM is currently
developing this work looking at all 12 LA’s and their different
stages of development, including where local networks have been
commissioned to deliver services, and where they are looking at
developing consortia type arrangements.
Commissioning
One of the key areas of work
in the North East is the procurement and commissioning agenda,
through working with the Regional Commissioning Unit, the
FINE
partnership and the
NE Centre for Excellence.
Draft North East Commissioning Action Plan: download [pdf
71kb]