Given the growing financial pressures placed on local authorities, this year’s Public Sector Finance Conference is the ideal platform to assess the future of funding and financial management, whilst examining practical solutions to ensure efficiency and capitalise on innovative commercial and income generation opportunities. With the MHCLG sharing updates on the progress and implications of the Fair Funding Review, you can join them on the 10th of October in Central London to examine the next steps in business rates retention, as well as securing value for money and financial sustainability in the delivery of high quality services. The morning keynote speech is by Stuart Hoggan, Deputy Director, Local Government Finance Settlement & Directorate, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government The theme of his talk is: Developing Secure Foundations for Local Government Finance Reinforcing the commitment to support local government funding by giving English councils access to more than £200 billion in funding over five years Outlining the future of local government funding and budget allocations as per the 2018-2019 Local Government Finance Settlement Giving …

19 July 2018, 10am–4.30pm, London This NPC training is for charities keen to improve their impact—developing a theory of change is a good place to start. It shows what you want to achieve and how, setting out the causal links between your activities and end goal. For more information and to book, follow this link.

James Brokenshire, the Housing Secretary, announced a new Housing First pilot to get rough sleepers off the streets of Greater Manchester, the West Midlands Combined Authority Area and the Liverpool City Region. These schemes will involve the development of Housing First provision which puts the emphasis on finding individuals a secure and affordable home to live in, while providing them with expert support to rebuild their lives. Housing first is a model originally developed in the US that has now been piloted with considerable success across Europe. 3SC are looking at how they can be involved in the delivery of the pilot in the West Midlands.

Sadiq Kahn, the Mayor of London, has launched the GLA Young Londoners Fund, to provide a range of services focusing on employment, skills, being active and community involvement targeting young people from the ages of 10 to 21, who are at risk of exclusion or involvement in criminal activity and young people who have already been involved in criminal activities. The current tender has a total value of £15 million with most of this money being let as small grants of less than £50,000 a year. 3SC is exploring whether some of the larger grants available would suit a consortium approach. Details can be found here and the application deadline is midday 9 July.

The Ministry of Justice will open a dynamic purchasing system during the summer to facilitate the purchase of services in prisons that will complement the core curriculum offers through the Prison Education Framework. The DPS is an opportunity for providers to offer a range of interventions, such as mentoring and employability training. 3SC will be seeking to get a range of offers that it can subcontract onto this DPS that we would seek to subcontract out to delivery organisations.

Social Enterprise UK has launched a quarterly newsletter to keep people abreast of developments in its Places Programme, which aims to promote, raise awareness, and build the markets for social enterprise at a local and national level. Hotspots of social enterprise activity can be awarded the Social Enterprise Place badge, which celebrates their achievements and supports their growth. There are currently 25 accredited Places across the UK; to become one you can find out more here.