Civil society loses out to the private sector in the Work Programme; the government returns  exempt status for certain schools, and a new legacy court judgment could have dire consequences for charities.  

Only one UK charity wins a prime contractor bid on new Work Programme
 

Just two of the 18 prime contractors on the government's new Work Programme are voluntary organisations, one in the UK and the other in Ireland, while 289 charities, including Mencap, the Citizen's Advice Bureau and the Prince's Trust, will be sub-contractors.

Appeal Court legacy ruling sets 'dangerous precedent', warn charities
 

Three large animal charities have voiced their dismay over a Court of Appeal judgment that allows a disinherited daughter to challenge her deceased mother's decision to leave her entire £500,000 estate to the charities.

Impetus Trust and Sutton Trust to manage £125m DoE fund
 

The Department for Education has chosen Impetus Trust and the education charity Sutton Trust to manage a £125m Education Endowment Fund, created to help disadvantaged children in the poorest performing schools in the UK.

Care charity loaned over £173,000 to staff member to buy house
 

The Charity Commission has concluded its report into Broad View Care Limited after its second statutory investigation which revealed the charity had loaned over £173,000 to its director of nursing to buy a house.

Communitybuilders £27m fund transfers to permanent endowment
 

The government has transferred the £27m that remained in the Communitybuilders Fund at the end of March into a permanent endowment fund that is owned and administered by the Adventure Capital Fund.

Locality to launch Institute of Community Organising
 

Locality is planning to set up an Institute for Community Organising as part of the £15m community organisers programme it is running on behalf of the government.

Self-appointed watchdog scrutinises first year of Big Society
 

A new network that claims to be the self-appointed watchdog of the Big Society held its first public event in London last week to examine how the Big Society concept has progressed, one year since David Cameron first announced it.

Trust at the top: an interview with National Trust leaders
 

The National Trust's deputy chairman, director-general and FD share their thoughts with Andrew Hind about leadership, sustainability and the triple bottom line.

Rising pressure - 25 years of charities and companies
 

Most of the top 50 charities in 1985 are still amongst the UK's biggest charities, yet few of the 50 largest companies 25 years ago exist in the same form today. Tania Mason investigates why, and identifies growing pressure for the sector to change.

Hutton Report - the impact for civil society organisations
 

The Hutton Report is lacking in some areas, says David Davison, but there are observations of importance for civil society organisations.

FDs...Get on the trustee train!
 

John Low urges FDs to become trustees, and reap the benefits.

Civil society needs to start thinking much, much bigger
 

Tania Mason worries that the scale and ambitions of civil society are no match for the mighty markets that are driving unprecedented consumption of our planet's resources.