BDCVS is excited to announce we are recruiting a Young Londoners Network Co-ordinator.

This is a new post to support the development of children and young people’s organisations. It is funded by the Mayor of London for two years. You will be working across the London boroughs of Barking & Dagenham and Havering.

We are eager to hear from people with a real passion for working with young people and not-for-profit organisations.

To apply, please send a CV with a supporting statement to rita.chadha@bdcvs.org.uk. (Your supporting statement should be no more than 2 sides of A4.) Please download the attached documents for full details.

For further information or to arrange a discussion about the role, email rita.chadha@bdcvs.org.uk.

The deadline for applications is Friday 22 March, 10am.

A consultation on structures that support partnership working and accountability in homelessness services.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is seeking views on:

• The effectiveness of existing non-statutory and statutory local accountability and partnership structures in homelessness services.
• Whether the government should introduce Homelessness Reduction Boards and, if so, how this could be done most effectively.
• How else they might improve local accountability and partnership working in homelessness services.

Go to "Tackling homelessness together" on the GOV.UK website for more information. The consultation closes on Thursday 16 May 2019.

DEFRA (Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs) wants to know what you think about their proposals to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers.

This would include drinks containers such as:

• Glass bottles
• Plastic bottles
• Cans

The cost of the deposit would be added to the price of the drinks when they are purchased. This deposit would be redeemed when consumers return their empty drinks containers to a designated return point.

If introduced, DEFRA anticipates that a deposit return scheme will increase recycling and reduce littering of drinks containers.

Find out more on the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers. The closing date to respond is Monday 13 May 2019.

DEFRA (Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs) wants to know what you think about their proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system. These regulations set waste recycling targets for businesses that are responsible for producing packaging (like food containers).

They are seeking views, in particular, on:

• Changing how costs are managed to be consistent with "polluter pays" principles.
• How they can use incentives to encourage the use of recyclable packaging.
• Making recycling labels mandatory on packaging.
• Setting new packaging waste recycling targets for 2025 and 2030.
• Improving monitoring and enforcement of the regulations.

Find out more about reforming the packaging producer responsibility system. The closing date to respond is Monday 13 May 2019.

The Council is consulting on how they allocate social housing and other homes for working people. These are properties that are owned by Reside, the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham’s Local Housing Company.

Changes are proposed to how the Council nominates people to housing association properties and homes let at 50% market rents.

The Council wants to make sure its policies help the people they intend to help and are legally current.

You can give your feedback on the proposed changes on the Council’s consultation website. The deadline for responses is Monday 29 April 2019.

Barking & Dagenham Council would like your feedback on its homelessness strategy. In 2017 the Homelessness Reduction Act came into effect. This gave the Council additional duties to help residents who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The new Draft Homelessness Strategy sets out an approach to preventing and tackling homelessness. It identifies ways of finding permanent and sustainable housing solutions for people facing homelessness. For the first time, it adopts a proactive policy towards alleviating rough sleeping in the borough.

London Borough of Barking & Dagenham aims by 2023 to have:

• Reduced the number of homeless incidences through prevention activities and personalised planning.
• Reduced the number of households in temporary accommodation by reducing demand and securing sustainable long-term housing solutions for residents.
• Eliminated rough sleeping through increased partnership-working and employing a "No Second Night" model of rapid assessment and rehousing.

You can give your feedback on the Council’s consultation website. The deadline for responses is Monday 18 March 2019.

Local Giving Barking & Dagenham was established, by Barking & Dagenham CVS, in December 2017 on Local Charities Day. We set it up to look at what actions could increase financial and volunteer support for local charities and not-for-profits.

The group is chaired during 2019 by Barking & Dagenham Council. The secretariat is provided by Barking & Dagenham Council for Voluntary Services.

We will be writing more about Local Giving over the next few months.

For more information contact Rita Chadha rita.chadha@bdcvs.org.uk.

The Borough Manifesto sets a vision for 2037. "To make Barking and Dagenham a friendly and welcoming borough with strong community spirit." The Council’s ambition for cohesion and integration 2019–2024 is to set the foundation for achieving that vision.

At the heart of this vision is the need to reinforce the links that bring and keep people together. These are links across opinions and beliefs, culture, ethnicity, age, and gender, making sure no one is left behind.

You can respond to the consultation on the Council's website. The deadline for responses is Monday 11 March 2019.

Barking & Dagenham Safeguarding Children Board (BDSCB) has published its annual report 2017–18.

The BDSCB Annual Report 2017–18 covers:

• What is safeguarding and why it matters for children and families
• Who is involved and how they work together
• What is happening in Barking & Dagenham
• How the BDSCB keeps a check on things, and what they have done about what they have found
• What they have learnt over the past year from serious incidents and what they have done a result
• The top things the BDSCB must do over the next 12 months
• How they will do it

Tesco Bags of Help is a community grant scheme offering small local grants. Supported by Groundwork, Bags of Help is the funding provided through Tesco's carrier bag charge. To be eligible, the project must bring benefit to the local community. You can apply at any time. If you would like more information contact Farhana Aktar farhana.aktar@groundwork.org.uk or 020 8762 0336. Projects are voted for by customers in Tesco stores. This determines the amount of funding each project will receive.

There are 3 sizes of grant available, up to:

• £1000
• £2000
• £4000

https://www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp