As might be expected, VSSN is playing a major role in current Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) consultations about the Voluntary and Community Sector.

Peter Halfpenny, in his role as Chair of the VSSN Steering Group (SG), was recently invited to make a presentation to a consultation meeting about the ESRC’s Voluntary Sector Engagement Strategy. This Strategy has now been approved by the Council and the SG will be meeting with the ESRC’s Head of Knowledge Transfer in January to discuss its implementation.

In parallel with this, the SG invited VSSN members to comment on a set of key questions about the proposed ESRC/OTS Third Sector Research Centre. Three SG members, Rob MacMillan, Cathy Pharoah and Angela Ellis-Paine, collated the responses and submitted them to the consultants who are preparing a plan for the Centre.

Peter Halfpenny made a presentation to a consultation meeting about the Centre, and the four SG members in attendance spent nearly an hour at the end of the meeting briefing the consultants. The ESRC is expected to issue a call for proposals for the Centre early in the New Year and we are optimistic that it will reflect the SG’s views about its structure and operation.

See also the further news item 26/11/07: Third Sector Research Centre consultation response published.

More information about ESRC, as well as other partners and organisations relevant to VSSN's work, is available via our Links page, as always. Please monitor our e-discussion for updates and more.