CONSULTATIONS

Risk capital investment fund for social enterprise
The Office of the Third Sector is consulting on a risk capital investment fund for social enterprise. In the social enterprise action plan published in November 2006, the Government committed itself to working with the finance and social enterprise sectors to develop a scheme that improves the ability of social enterprises to access the finance they need when seeking to expand their businesses.

As part of that work, the Office of the Third Sector is allocating £10 million to help address the equity gap faced by social enterprises when trying to expand, by creating a 'pathfinder fund'. Under the proposed structure for the scheme, the Government will invest in a social enterprise through the fund if the terms it is offered are the same or better than those offered to independent sector investors.

Consultation closes on Friday 2 November 2007.

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/
consultations/current/risk.asp

Draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction a consultation paper July 2007

The main purpose of the consultation is to gather further evidence to strengthen the case that social enterprises encounter an equity gap when looking to expand their businesses, and to give you a chance to comment on the proposed structure of the investment fund.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has now drawn up the draft strategy on sustainable construction and invites views as part of a consultation period which ends on 30November 2007.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file40641.pdf

Recycle on the Go' consultation launch

Defra has launched a public consultation on recycling in public places. The proposals aim to stimulate good practice in the provision of public use recycle bins. The consultation paper includes a voluntary code of practice and an associated good practice guide, taking forward the commitment in the Waste Strategy for England 2007 to stimulate a new wave of public place recycling from 2008 and to provide guidance to managers of public places to help this happen.

Deadline 2 November 2007

www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/recyclebins/index.htm

Consultation on the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation The Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation sets out the basic principles for conducting effective government consultations. The Government has launched its review of consultation policy 'Effective Consultation: asking the right questions, asking the right people, listening to the answers'. This document forms the centre piece of the Cabinet Office's review of central government consultation policy.
The consultation is aimed at anyone with an interest in responding to government consultation exercises, from those who regularly respond to the government's consultations to those who might be interested in doing so. These might include business organisations, voluntary and charitable sector organisations, campaigning bodies, trades unions, citizens, etc.
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regulation/consultation/

Consultation on Government Guidance for EU Directives and Waste Technical Competence Environmental Permitting Guidance will be replacing existing lengthy guidance for the waste management licensing (WML) and pollution prevention and control (PPC) systems. It will be a simple, single reference point explaining how the new, streamlined Environmental Permitting Regulations work and, where possible, how they will be implemented. 
Deadline: 10 October 2007
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/envpermitprog4/index.htm

Petition: Charity exemption from VAT
Charities incur substantial amounts of tax when they spend the money that is generously donated to them. This is because the VAT system, which is based on the EU's Sixth VAT Directive, treats charities as the final consumer - even when they are not. A new petition has been set up on the Downing Street website calling for charities to be exempt from all Value Added Tax (VAT).
http://www.ctrg.org.uk/home

REPORTS

Waste Strategy for England 2007
The Government published Waste Strategy for England 2007 on 24 May 2007; it sets out their vision for sustainable waste management.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/strategy/index.htm

Health & safety training: guidelines for the waste and recycling industry

  http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/waste21.pdf

This 'good practice' guidance was written in consultation with the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH). It does not aim to be comprehensive but gives examples of good practice within the industry. It is for managers and those organising training within the waste management and recycling industry.

The HSE document sets out guidelines on the basic requirements for training in five key areas:

. slips, trips and falls

. personal protective equipment

. manual handling

. workplace transport

. legislation and responsibilities

Defra waste and resources research programme

A waste and resources evidence programme to help deliver the Government's ambitious waste policies has been outlined by Defra. The Waste and Resources Evidence Strategy 2007-2011 summarises the key areas where research will be commissioned and evidence sought over the next few years. The programme will inform delivery of the Government's Waste Strategy for England 2007, published in May, which set out priorities on waste prevention, minimisation, recycling, recovery, and energy production.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2007/070919a.htm

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/wip/research/index.htm

Revised WEEE Guidance Document
A revised guidance document covering implementation of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations has been published by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file41165.pdf

Community Composting Activity in the UK 2006
A new report on Community Composting Activity in the UK has been published by The Open University. The most comprehensive review of the community composting sector undertaken to-date. It highlights the diversity of groups and organisations involved in community composting; reports on numbers of sites and material composted; the involvement of volunteers and trainees; the type of work undertaken with local authorities and explores wider social and environmental objectives of different groups.

http://technology.open.ac.uk/iws/docs/cc%20report_Final.pdf our waste --general business

Your waste your responsibility - Environment Agency fact sheet for businesses Changes for business waste take place from 30 October 2007, landfills can no longer accept untreated waste from businesses.  http://publications.environment- agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO0507BMQM-e-e.pdf

Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2007

DEFRA latest published figures on UK's 'environmental, social and economic wellbeing. Covers a range of issues including health, housing, jobs, crime, education and the environment.

http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/progress/data-resources/documents/sdiyp2007_a6.pdf

Local environmental quality survey - DEFRA

The first part of a survey assessing the quality of the local environment across England has been published.

The survey gives detailed information on the performance of 174 local authority areas on the management of key street-level environmental problems including litter, fly tipping, fly-posting and graffiti.

The aim is to provide a picture for local residents on how their area is shaping up and to enable local authorities to target their resources more effectively. Results for the remaining 179 English local authority areas will be published next year. The local level survey builds on the existing national survey, which is carried out for Defra annually by ENCAMS.

http://www.direct.gov.uk

Public Attitudes and Behaviours toward the Environment: 2007 DEFRA Survey

The 2007 survey establishes a representative picture of what people in England think and how they behave across a range of issues relevant to the environment. The results for the 2007 survey were produced from data collected from a representative sample of approximately 3,600 individuals in England during spring 2007.

Topics include: recycling, attitudes and knowledge in relation to the environment, eco-friendly purchasing

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/pubatt/index.htm

Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme Planning Systems Guidance - DEFRA
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/localauth/funding/pfi/
pdf/wipd-systems-guidance.pdf

Third sector action plan
'Partnership in Public Services: an Action Plan for Third Sector Involvement'. The plan aims to remove barriers to third sector organisations wishing to become involved in delivering and designing public services. The report covers a range of areas from the National Offender Management Service to Jobcentre Plus. Part of the plan includes a national programme to train 2000 of those who commission public services on how to involve the third sector in services.
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/public_service_delivery/

Measuring Real Value: a DIY guide to Social Return on Investment
A new step-by-step guide to calculating social returns on investment produced by the New Economics Foundation. It is intended to allow sector organisations to demonstrate and quantify their wider social value when applying for grants and bidding for contracts.
SROI shows how social and environmental outcomes translate into tangible monetary value, helping organisations and investors of all kinds to see a fuller picture of the benefits that flow from their investment of time, money and other resources. This investment can then be seen in terms of the 'return' or the value created for individuals, communities, society or the environment. Link

The future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration: final report
The final report of the joint Cabinet Office/Treasury review into the future role of the third sector in social and economic regeneration, it sets the framework for government working in partnership with the sector for the next 10 years, and responds directly to the largest ever public consultation Link

Alternate weekly collections revised guidance
WRAP have re-issued their guidance on alternate weekly collection schemes. Included within the revised guidance is a suggestion that to meet Landfill Directive requirements it will be necessary to deal with food waste. The best way to do this the guidance suggests is through a weekly collection of food waste and to process it either through composting or preferably through processes like Anaerobic Digestion. Link

Tender Readiness Toolkit - SCEDU

Sheffield community enterprise development unit (SCEDU) has released an updated version of their Tender Readiness Toolkit , it is aimed primarily at organisations considering their long term future and looking at procurement and contracting as an option .
http://www.scedu.org.uk/products.htm

House of Commons Refuse Collection Fifth Report
Covering refuse collection, dealing with waste, collection methods (specifically alternate weekly collections, recycling versus co-mingled), financial incentives & charging etc.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/
cmselect/cmcomloc/536/536i.pdf

Waste Shipment Regulations
New Waste Shipment Regulations came into force on 12 July 2007. These will make a number of changes to the controls on international waste movements to and from the UK. Under existing rules many types of low hazard or 'Green List' waste can be exported to many countries for recovery under minimal regulatory controls. Under the new rules stricter procedures must be followed.

Further guidance is available on the environment agency website
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wasteshipments

Poverty indicator for Wales updated
An updated analysis of poverty and social exclusion in Wales published July 2007
http://www.poverty.org.uk/summary/reports.shtml#wales *

'Setting Up and Running Charity Shops - an Essential Guide' by John Tough
http://fp.charityshops.plus.com/JohnToughBook.html

Adding Value Beyond Funding
A report has been published to help the Big Lottery Fund and other grant makers to understand the nature, benefit, cost and outcome of adding value to grant programmes. The report, 'Investing in our programmes - maximising grant making', goes beyond standard good practice in grant making and investigates different rationales and methods of doing so, and provides practical recommendations.
www.biglotteryfund.org.uk

Defra Municipal waste management statistics 2005/06
First set of estimates from the Department's 2005/6 survey of municipal waste. Based on information supplied by local authorities in England to WasteDataFlow. For 2005/6, there was a 100% response rate to WasteDataFlow.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/wastats/index.htm

A Rough Guide to Individual Carbon Trading.
Defra published Centre for Sustainable Energy report on personal carbon allowances
http://www.cse.org.uk/pdf/news1270.pdf

A Better Way to Recycle: Co-operative and Community Approaches to Recycling 
Waste management is fast becoming a key political issue. Using case studies from across the world, Erik Bichard, CEO of the National Centre for Business and Sustainability, shows in this new report how problems can be turned to our advantage with a little innovation and a determination to invest in the future. Full report downloadable from:
www.cooperatives-uk.coop/live/welcome.asp?id=1047

Understanding Food waste - Research Summary prepared by Eunomia for WRAP
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/FoodWasteResearchSummary .

Dealing with Food Waste in the UK prepared by Eunomia for WRAP
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Dealing_with_Food_Waste

Code of Practice for collection of WEEE from designated Collection Facilities
http://www.doeni.gov.uk/final_code_of_practice.pdf