ISSUE 534: OCTOBER 2015
*NEW START IN NEWCASTLE*
October 2015 - NewStart
Within the third sector we are increasingly conscious of our interdependence on each other. A few years ago large, small and medium local third sector organisations got together to develop a consortium to seek and secure public sector contracts which no one member of the consortium could deliver alone.
George Osborne’s plans for business rates devolution have so far thrown up more questions than answers, says Kevin Muldoon-Smith
The neighbourhood of Walker in Newcastle is both unique yet typical of communities under stress across the UK. Like many such places, the solutions to the area’s problems need to be found from within, says Anthony Woods-Waters
Nick Forbes, the leader of Newcastle council, has been vocal about the pain that austerity is causing – and will continue to cause – to the city. He talks to New Start about the impact of another £100m cuts, investing to grow and building a fairer city.
Local systems change is vitally important to tackling poverty. However, without a supportive national system policy change, it could all come to nothing.
To make the step change in the number of homes that we need to build in the UK, we must consider the construction process and what we can learn from other sectors.
Riverside Community Health Project has been fighting inequalities since the 1980s but is now inundated by those falling through the gaps in provision, says Sarah Hunter
So what is this initiative telling us? To some extent it is revealing the limitations of philanthropy. The most obvious gap in its offer is spatial, reflecting the distribution of people with money to give. Put simply, Newcastle gets a better deal than Sunderland because more rich people live there.
Sir Michael Wilshaw’s most recent broadside was aimed not at schools, but the apprenticeship sector. And as one would expect from a man raised a postman’s son in gritty South London, it pulls no punches. ‘The rise in poor quality courses has devalued the apprentice brand,’ it says.