28/06/2010 – Press Release- London Advice Conference, July 1 2010
London Advice Executive (LAE) is holding their third advice conference for not-for-profit organisations working in the advice sector. The conference will take place on 1 July in Central London at Clifford Chance. Funders on the ‘question time' panel are Mubin Haq, (City Parochial Foundation) Sasan Abtahi (London Councils) and Gaynor Humphreys (London Funders). Guest speakers include Rilesh Jadeja (Job Centre Plus), and Belinda Pratten (NCVO).
Entitled ‘Transformers: Changing lives through advice' the theme of the conference is workforce development. The advice sector is characterised by short-term funding and a lack of resources for strategic workforce development to effectively meet current and future demand. This is made worse by an ageing workforce and a lack of new entrants into the sector. Another key feature is the large proportion of the workforce working on a voluntary basis in not-for-profit organizations.1 This calls for better recruitment, training and retention for paid and voluntary workers in order to invest in staff development and improve the quality of advice services.
Andy Gregg, Chief Executive of Lasa said: ‘In the current economic climate workforce development is a pressing issue for the advice sector. With £6bn worth of cuts in government expenditure predicted for the emergency budget, never has it been a better time for advice workers to brush up on their skills and fully understand the options available to them. The conference is also geared towards building the capacity of advice agencies to make sure that we have strong foundations to effectively deliver advice services to the vulnerable and disadvantaged during this difficult time.'
Wesley Harcourt, London Manager, AdviceUK said: ‘Funding is an ever present uncertainty in the voluntary advice sector and now major government cuts are being predicted. It's going to be even more important than ever that agencies have strategies in place to ensure that they do not lose key staff members and that there are robust systems in place to attract and recruit the best staff. The London Advice Conference aims to address many of these issues as well as providing the opportunity for agencies to exchange ideas on how they have approached the situation.'
Charlotte Jackson, Partnership Development Manager at Citizens Advice said: ‘These events play an importance role in bringing the advice sector together to look at common issues and workforce development was highlighted at last years conference as a key concern across the advice sector in London. As charities our managers and trustees need to be exceptional, balancing the demands of a high pressure business with limited resources as well as harnessing and inspiring a mixed paid and voluntary workforce. In an environment where many advice organisations now work through contracts managing and motivating such a workforce brings enormous benefits to our organisations but also a number of challenges.'
Michael Smyth, Partner and head of public policy at Clifford Chance said: ‘We are delighted to be hosting the third advice conference at our offices. Advice workers play an important role in helping vulnerable and disadvantaged people to stand up for their rights and be properly informed on the avenues available to them.'
The conference will feature workshops on a range of advice service development and policy issues, including ‘volunteer development and management,' ‘accreditation and sector qualifications for advisers,' ‘employment law update' and ‘regulatory change for legal advice.'
-ENDS-
For further information please contact:
- Lindi Maqhubela, Policy and Communications Manager at Lasa on 0207 426 4484 or email lmaqhubela@lasa.org.uk
Notes for editors:
1. Advice Forward: Developing skills for the future November 2006. Project Steering group
London Advice Executive (LAE) is the voice of London's advice sector, representing advice agencies in the UK. LAE consists of AdviceUK, Citizens Advice, Lasa, and Law Centres Federation (LCF)
Lasa is a leading strategic provider of ICT and advice services to support the provision of independent expert advice for the voluntary and charity sector, Lasa helps thousands of organisations every year. It helps third sector organisations to get better welfare rights advice to their clients; use ICT (Information and Communications Technology) to deliver more effective and efficient services; influence policy for advice and legal services; and raise awareness of the third sector's ICT needs with funders and government. For more information, please visit www.lasa.org.uk/
AdviceUK is a charity supporting community organisations that give free advice to members of the public. Established in 1979, AdviceUK is the largest network of independent advice agencies in the UK. Our members work in some of the poorest parts of the UK, helping people to solve legal and social welfare problems. Together, our members provide access to advice for over 2 million people a year. For more information, please visit www.adviceuk.org.uk/
Clifford Chance is committed to being a responsible member of the global community in which it operates. The Firm has established a Corporate Responsibility strategy that reflects its values: People, Community and Environment. Clifford Chance recognises that community investment is not only about financial giving but should also reflect the commitment of its time and expertise. In 2008/09 lawyers and business services staff carried out over 90,000 hours of pro bono and community work, worth more than £26 million. The Firm also gave over £2 million in donations and sponsorship. The Clifford Chance Foundation is the focal point for the Firm's charity fundraising, pro bono work and volunteering which focuses on Firm-wide but locally driven schemes that widen access to justice, finance or education. The Firm is also a signatory of the UN Global Compact. For more information see www.cliffordchance.com
The Citizens Advice service is a network of independent charities that helps people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. Of the 27,000 people who work in the CAB service, 21,000 of them are volunteers, all from different backgrounds with different skills. They perform a variety of roles from giving advice to fundraising, IT, administration, publicity, local campaigning and trusteeship. For more information in England and Wales see www.citizensadvice.org.uk