Breakout

Another fairly tense week with an underlying theme of  the Transforming Local Infrastructure bid in progress, and discussions with the County Council starting about grant cutting for 2012/13, and the introduction of commissioning for 2013/14.

More positively we have got the papers out for our Trustees meeting next week, including the Annual Report and Accounts for last year, which we see as a key marketing document.

We have also been sending out floods of emails about our first “Young people and Society” open public debate in Guildford on Friday 21 October. Great meeting about this at Guildford College yesterday with the Interim Principal and the Student Union President who will be on the Panel for Friday. Hopefully the College will be able to film the event which would be brilliant. Talking of “society” …..interesting to hear this week from Sue Berelowitz, a former Surrey CC colleague and now Deputy Children’s Commissioner that "Right now thousands of children are being horrifically abused by gangs” . And then also this week the Care Quality Commission’s review of care for the elderly in 100 hospitals found “concerns” in 55/100, and downright illegal treatment in 20. What does that tell us about our society?

I was invited by the Chairman of the County Council to lunch at County Hall to hear a speech by Matthew Bowcock, chairman of the Community Foundation Network nationally. His theme is, like mine, that charities need to break out of the dependence on government grants and contracts and become more self funding. By contrast the closing date for the Surrey CC services for young people was 12 October, including the submission of individual contracts for the 31 youth centres…which transfers huge costs of time and effort to the bidders. Off now to a South East Youth Partnership (SEYP of which I am Chair) workshop on Commissioning with the Oftsted Inspector, Tony Gallagher, who wrote “An evaluation of approaches to commissioning young people’s services” . His report and my update on commissioning are on our website.

Good weather this weekend… We’re all Welsh now...grand-daughter now doing ok. Neglected Theology dissertation calls though!

Mike