Jargon Buster

Social Enterprise:
Not an entirely new concept (remember Community Enterprise in the 80s and 90s?), but definitely the mood of the moment: Social Enterprises trade, to deliver social benefits and alleviate disadvantage. They may operate among a certain target group ('community of interest'), or in a certain area or location. They may or may not also be a charity, and may also access grants. Soon, a new legal structure (Community Interest Company or CIC), will make Social Enterprises (SEs) easier to set up. The SE concept links into much current thinking: can it help the voluntary sector become less dependent on grants? Are SEs better at delivering government services to the disadvantaged through their highly-developed Social Capital (see next Jargon Buster). Can SE help the sustainability of UK online centres? The new futurebuilders fund depends on applicants developing this ethos. So for some UK online centres the relevance is very clear. For more, request a free DirectSupport workshop on 0800 026 0202 or visit these weblinks: www.seo-online.org.uk ; Social Enterprise London [www.sel.org.uk] ; CAN [www.can-online.org.uk] ;
CBC [www.socialeconomy.org] or read Social Enterprise Magazine [subs@socialenterprisemag.co.uk]

Social Capital:
Capitalists use money, machines, natural resources and other assets - things that are easy to see and value - to create wealth. So, what is Social Capital and what has it to do with UK online centres? New economic thinking recognises 5 'capital assets' (at least): Physical (buildings, machines), Financial (money), Human (people and skills), Natural and Social. Social Capital means your contacts and networks, your partnerships, the reputation and trust you have built up amongst your centre users; the recognition you have among stakeholders. It's the 'glue' which keeps you where you are. Arguably, politics and influence ("moving and shaking") comes in here too. Few UK online centres value this 'intangible' asset highly enough; but it's this which underpins the success of your centre, and is crucial in engaging the hard to reach. Try listing all your Social Capital Assets - you'll be surprised how much is there. When writing a funding bid, make the most of these unique strengths. If your centre can relate to the idea of being a Social Enterprise, Social Capital is what you'll need.

Community Broadband or DIY broadband:
If your UK online centre is in a rural area, you may be frustrated that broadband isn't coming any time soon. Some businesses and communities are forming themselves into groups (typically a co-op) for a DIY broadband approach. This usually means a group of people investing to install a leased line, to negotiate a space in the local BT exchange (called "Local Loop Unbundling"), or to tack a wireless distribution system onto an existing broadband infrastructure, to take it further into rural areas. This Social Enterprise approach has recently been endorsed by e-commerce Minister Stephen Timms. UK online centres in rural areas could well participate, or lead these initiatives. More help for communities to 'do it themselves' is emerging, with Co-operativesUK offering legal set-up help, and ruralnet|uk joining with the Phone Co-op to run a new Community Broadband Network. This will be similar to DirectSupport for UK online centres: it will share good practice and advise groups on how to take things further. For more, see http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/2003/10/uk_government_b.html#more
http://www.cooperatives-uk.coop/broadband
Community websites at www.cybermoor.org and www.digitaldales.co.uk give some examples, and DirectSupport will help if you want to know more: 0800 026 0202.

Broadband:
What does "Broadband' actually mean? Even techies don't agree, but with a little knowledge you won't be frustrated by woolly marketing jargon. Broadband is 'a thick pipe' that carries a lot of data, quickly; a useful analogy, as it allows for different kinds of 'pipe': Broadband isn't just one technology. It can be delivered via television cable services; DSL (Digital Subscriber Lines); ADSL (Asymmetric DSL ie more can come to you 'downstream' than goes out 'upstream'); wireless and satellite; and the fastest but scarcest: optical fibre. Most non-techies accept that Broadband means 'a lot of bandwidth' - the broader the bandwidth, the more data - over 40 times faster than a basic 56k modem. Even a decade ago, broadband meant carrying 2Mbps (that's 2 Megabits of data per second). Now, suppliers are cashing in on the term to sell services as slow as 128kbps (Kilobits per second) as 'Broadband'. The first will deliver live moving pictures comfortably, the second won't. Any link will slow down with many computers using it simultaneously, and whilst your service may come via various technologies, it's the slowest one that determines your speed of access. People argue whether broadband means 'always on' and whether different 'upstream' and 'downstream' capacity will be acceptable in the future. For real 'future-proofing', connoisseurs would opt for new optical fibre infrastructure. You can get it in Milan, and in Korea and Japan, but for the rest of us, it would mean digging up the roads. For more links, go to www.ruralnet.org.uk and type broadband in the yellow window (ruralnet portal). DirectSupport will be offering a Broadband advice forum, as part of its Experts Online service, soon.

Is the RAB in your RDA part of the BAP?
To continue our broadband theme (see last week's On the Nail), Regional Aggregation Boards (RABs) are charged with mapping and consolidating the demand for Broadband in each region. Announced in July 2003, their task is to ensure better planning, and better value, particularly for schools and hospitals (to meet the government's 2006 target for connecting schools). RABs will procure and re-sell broadband infrastructure and services, taking account of the needs of all sectors, from schools and hospitals to businesses and communities. UK online centres should certainly be part of this equation. The RABs join up at national level (yes, the NAB), and this is all part of the Dti's Broadband Aggregation Project (BAP). A pilot is underway in the East Midlands. For more, see http://www.broadband.gov.uk/html/BAP/BAP.htm http://getconnected.ngfl.gov.uk/index.php?s=legal_bb The RABs reside in your Regional Development Agency (RDA); the agencies responsible for economic development in each of the 9 regions of England.

See http://www.consumer.gov.uk/rda/info/

Regional Development Agencies (RDAs):
RDAs drive and co-ordinate regional economic development and regeneration. They are non-department public bodies (NDPBs). So, whilst they receive funding from central government, it does not come via one government department, and they are not working under one minister, though they are legally accountable to the DTI. (London is an exception: the Mayor holds the reins). RDAs employ their own staff, under their own Chief Executive, and enjoy autonomy in day to day management. They have considerable flexibility in how they spend, but they are responsive to regional needs and government policy. When they were formed (1999/2000) they took on some staff and roles from Government Offices, English Partnerships, Rural Development Commission and other pre-existing regional agencies. They are expected to become more influential in future. Some already take a lead role in certain specialisations: for example the South East (SEEDA) is piloting satellite broadband, see: http://www.seeda.co.uk/broadband/index.htm

*RDAs' agenda include regional regeneration, taking forward regional competitiveness, taking the lead on regional inward investment and, working with regional partners, ensuring the development of a regional skills action plan to ensure that skills training matches the needs of the labour market.* UK online centres should keep an eye on their RDA's website: it may be a source of funding and will certainly be a source of policy guidance, publications, news, advice and data. For more information see: http://www.rdauk.org/rdauk-rdas/ http://www.consumer.gov.uk/regional_socialinclusion/rdapage.htm

Is the OPDM interested in the NRU, NRAs and NM - and should you be too?
Neighbourhood Renewal Areas (NRAs) and Neighbourhood Management (NM) should be in the vocabulary of any UK online centre working to support local regeneration, both from the funding and policy point of view. If you are based in one of the 88 NRAs, you may get access to the NRF (Neighbourhood Renewal Fund). See www.neighbourhood.gov.uk for a list of these areas, and the policy background, and www.neighbourhood.gov.uk/nrfund.asp for more on the NRF. The latest allocation is targeted at 26 local authority areas from the 88 currently receiving NRF. The areas were chosen because they are ranked amongst the lowest, using
two or more indicators for the achievement of key national Floor Targets.

Even if you are not on the list of NRAs, you may still benefit from NLDC funding (Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities). And beyond listed NRAs, Neighbourhood Management may still be seen as a key vehicle, at local level, to bring about Neighbourhood Renewal. If Neighbourhood Management is going forward in your area, your centre could benefit from getting involved. Key activities in NM programmes will be consultation, and real involvement, by local citizens, to re-structure local services. This will usually link closely into the work of the Local Strategic Partnership (or LSP). These initiatives derive from the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal, implemented by the NRU (Neighbourhood Renewal Unit), part of the OPDM (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister). The strategy aims to bridge the gap between deprived areas and the national average, and to hit four key outcome targets in deprived neighbourhoods: less long-term worklessness, less crime, better health and better qualifications. The main components of the National Strategy are 18 Policy Action Team (PAT) reports. PAT 4 (covering Neighbourhood Management) outlines the role of a team, or person, acting as a co-ordinator to drive forward five key principles to get things done. Pathfinder projects are trying out these processes and principles. For practical examples of NM in action see www.renewal.net

StARs and FRESAs
Know what is written in the StARs, and you'll know how to plan some of your funding bids and partnerships. Since April of this year, all 47 Learning and Skills Councils have been working on their Strategic Area Reviews (StARs). These will lay out the pattern of education provision for post-16s in every part of the country. StARs will examine how well the provision on offer meets the needs of learners, employers and communities, and how it fits with government policy. They will also identify strengths and weaknesses in the local learning and skills sector. The process will be complete by spring 2005. This is important for UK online centres: get UK online's contribution recognised in the StAR, and funding may follow.

FRESAs, put together by RDAs (Regional Development Agencies), are strategic plans at regional level. These Frameworks for Regional Employment and Skills Action take a wider view than StARs, and have been in development since 2001.

For more on StARs visit http://www.successforall.gov.uk/ and type StAR in the site search. Your local LSC may already have a StAR on their own web site, or news of the process. For more on your RDA's FRESA, visit your RDA's website and do a site search, or give them a ring. For more information on your RDA's contact details, see: http://www.rdauk.org/rdauk-rdas/

CDFI
Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) are a new financial tool for social, economic and physical renewal in under-invested communities. Many of them are members of the CDFA - the Community Development Finance Association. The association has a useful website at http://www.cdfa.org.uk/ where members are listed by region. Check it out to see who is operating close to you. CDFIs are sustainable, independent organisations that provide financial services to generate social and financial returns. CDFIs lend and invest in deprived areas and under-served markets that cannot access mainstream finance. As such they may well be of interest to voluntary and community sector UK online centres, particularly those which want to pursue social enterprise and income generation, or are in a position to consider taking a loan.

BITC and PILCOM
For the next few DirectSupport Jargon Busters, we'll uncover some of the organisations lurking in the alphabet soup, concentrating on those that can offer something to UK online centres. Business in the Community (BITC) is a scheme which matches up employees from some of the country's biggest firms and makes them available to help community and voluntary groups. For more see www.bitc.org.uk

At present they have a scheme specifically for community or social enterprises called Partners in Leadership with Community Enterprise (PILCOM), sponsored by Jaguar. Managers of social organisations that trade for community benefit can form a mutually beneficial relationship with a business person who has skills in leadership, management, business development, human resources and so on. There are no charges and the relationship might span 6 meetings of 2 hours over the period of a year, with phone and/or e-mails support. North Yorkshire is a particular target area. This service is not unlike DirectSupport, and would make a useful supplement to the 1-3 days intensive mentoring or workshops that we are able to offer UK online centres (call 0800 026 0202).

NLN
The National Learning Network is a real alphabet soup of many key players in post-16 education – particularly those with a stake in e-leaning. It is national partnership programme designed to increase the uptake of Information and Learning Technology across post-16 education in England. (See www.nln.ac.uk). UK online centres which are part of colleges or their partnerships will want to keep a keen eye on NLN materials development funding, whilst any centre may benefit from the new ideas for e-learning programmes which are being gathered. Some players are well known to UK online centres (Becta, DfES, the LSCs and NIACE); others are perhaps less familiar to those further removed from the HE/FE sector. These include: JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee – a strategy body joining up HE/FE); UKERNA (which manages the services and support on the academic internet network called JANET); LSDA – the Learning and Skills Development Agency; and NILTA (a National Association where members talk about ILT – as opposed to ICT: the L is for Learning – guess the rest!). For more on all of these go to http://www.nln.ac.uk/partners.asp

For more on PILCOM, contact Harriet Bisson, BITC on 01765 600393 or e-mail harrietbitc@pbisson.freeuk.com

ACU or ACD?
The Active Communities Unit, recently re-christened as the Active Communities Directorate (ACD), is part of the Home Office – and has funding programmes relevant to UK online centres. The ACD has been restructured to combine one team (which retains the ACU name) with two others: the Charities Unit and the Civil Renewal Unit. The ACU team works on service delivery and policy, capacity building, and sector support programmes, while the Charities Unit works on legal and governance issues and the Civil Renewal Unit promotes civic engagement and works on the CCBR (Community Capacity Building Review). To see how it fits together, go to www.homeoffice.gov.uk/inside/org/dob/direct/index.html . The website has been updated this month to make things easier to follow, but isn’t easy to see where the money is unless you keep an eye on ACD consultations. Recently, these have been on capacity building, and on building infrastructure in the voluntary sector. Exemplar funding has followed straight out of the Infrastructure Consultation, and the futurebuilders fund (now expected in the summer) also links in. For more, see www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/active/developing/index.html and follow the links on the right hand menu (in particular see Consultations). For a short cut to ‘where’s the money’ try www.governmentfunding.org.uk : some regional Exemplar pots to build up the sector are still open. You will have to be quick, but more money will come after April.