BECON Themed Event
Children and Young People: BME Youth Provision in NE
9th October 2008
9:30 am – 2:30 pm
International Centre, 7 Abingdon Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2DP

The event will be chaired by
Cllr Habib Rehman

Guest Speakers will include:
Jackie McHanwell
Head of the Children and Learning Division
Goverment Office North East
and
Ivan Wintringham
The Regional Voluntary Youth Sector Liaison Officer
Regional Youth Work Unit

Children and Young People Matter
This BECON themed event will focus on children and young people, the every child matters agenda with a specific focus on education, employment and skills. There will be presentations providing a regional perspective from Government Office North East and the Regional Youth Work Unit. There will also be an opportunity for participants to learn about how local authorities are developing youth provision to meet the needs of BME young people.

Mini bus will be available from Newcastle on the day and lunch will be provided.
R.S.V.P Richard on 0191 2094747 or richy@becon.org.uk to book your place on the bus and/or if you have any special requirements


Please click here to download the Agenda of the event


BECON participated in the first national symposium organised by Voice4Change England on 23 July in London. The symposium was organised to initiate a debate within the Black voluntary and community sector on some important issues facing the sector today: equality and cohesion. Daljeet Singh, BECON's Regional Policy Officer participated in the symposium and read a paper titled 'Needs, Equality and Cohesion: An Anthropological Perspective'. The key note speech was delivered by Dr. Amrit Wilson. Further information about the event is available on the Voice4Change England, please click here to access them

Symposium 08 Daljeet paper

  

 

BECON recently responded to the Department for Innovation, Univesities and Skills (DIUS) Single Equality Scheme

BECON responce to DIUS

The Public Administration Select Committee recently released reports on involement of the voluntary and community sector in public services. The reports do not find 'compelling evidence' to support the claim that the voluntary and community sector provides public services any differently.

Please click here for more information (press release)
Public Service and VCS Vol 1
Public Service and VCS Vol 2

Making Spending Count
A national conference on Participatory Budgeting and its role in community empowerment
Monday 15th September 2008
Midland Hotel, Manchester

Organised and hosted by the Participatory Budgeting Unit and supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government

Keynote speaker:
Rt. Hon. Hazel Blears MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Early booking discount of £50 – book before 31st July 2008
Full costs: Private & public sector - £200; Community & voluntary sector - £100
Bursaries may be available

For more information and to book contact mail@participatorybudeting.org.uk
The PB Unit is a project of the charity Church Action on Poverty (charity no. 1079986)
Policy Skills Survey
Help shape and inform our programme

The Policy Skills Development Programme, based in the Campaigning Effectiveness team, is a three-year programme aimed at strengthening the skills, knowledge and expertise of policy workers across the voluntary and community sector.

We have launched an online survey to learn more about how policy work is understood and carried out across the sector, as well as the individual learning needs of policy workers.

The survey should be completed by anyone currently working in the policy field, planning to move into a policy role, or those wishing to develop the policy functions of their organisation. This might include dedicated policy staff or those who carry out policy work as one of many areas of responsibility.

The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. To take part, please visit http://www.ncvo-consult.org.uk/survey.asp?s=01220217234165148

The closing date is 31st July 2008.

The results of the survey will help guide the development of the programme, so we would really appreciate your input! Please do forward this email to any colleagues or partners that may be interested in taking part.

If you have any queries, please contact Nicola Gilbert, Policy Skills Development Assistant, by emailing nicola.gilbert@ncvo-vol.org.uk or calling 020 7520 2465.

In 2007 the LSC commissioned the Wood Holmes Group to carry out research and identify recommended approaches to address two of their 2007 Regional Equality and Diversity Impact Measures (EDIMs):

EDIM 1: Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) learners in the North East are far less likely to be learning towards a full Level 2 qualification or above than White learners. More than double the proportion of BME learners in the North East (47%) were taking entry level and Level 1 courses in 2006/7 than the proportion of White learners taking these levels of courses (23%).

EDIM 3: Male learners are less likely to achieve in full Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications than female learners. 86% of female learners taking full Level 2 and 3 qualifications achieved in 2005/6, versus 83% of male learners.

The Wood Holmes Group has submitted their final report to the LSC which includes an Executive Summary and a section on Recommended Approaches. The LSC will be using the findings in their Regional Equality & Diversity planning for 2008.


 


Equalities and Human Rights Commission has released a briefing on the proposed counter-terrorism bill to be debated this week in the parliament. Commenting upon the leagal merit of the bill, the Commission has announced that it would consider judicial review of the proposed bill if enacted by the Parliament. The bill seeks to extend the pre-charge detention of individuals allegedly invovled in terrorism activities from 28 days to 42 days. Further information is available on the Commission's website.
  
  CTBillBrief

The Northern Conference Against Racism

BECON participated in the Northern Conference Against Racism organised by the Tyneside Community Action for Refugees in Newcastle. The conference was organised on 21 June and included a wide range of speakers, including Arun Kundnani from the Institute of Race Relations. Daljeet Arora, BECON's Regional Policy Officer, represented the organisation in the conference and presented a paper on racism in contemporary Britain.
Race and Racism in contemporary Britain