This is a glossary of useful terms and acronyms for faith representatives on public bodies and partnerships. Terms and phrases commonly used Added value — an improvement that would not have happened without the additional action proposed Budget round — the annual process of spending decisions undertaken by most public bodies Capacity building — building up the ability of a community or organisation to do things e.g. by better training, improvement of management structures Community Cohesion — a community “sticking together”, with mutual help and respect, not being divided by e.g. race, religion, class or age Community resilience — the ability of a local community to respond to and recover from emergencies Cross-cutting — cutting across traditional subjects and service divisions; cross cutting themes are ones that have implications for all the actions within a plan Local Authority — Local government body — usually known as a Council e.g. City, Town, District, Borough, County Council or Unitary Authority. Members are democratically elected. There are also Parish Councils — see below Parish Council — in a three tier system they have responsibility for certain elements of public service delivery and planning procedure. Primary Care Trust (PCT) — Primary care is that provided by the professionals the public normally see when they have a heath problem (e.g. GP, dentist); these services are managed by PCTs Private sector — commercial organisations owned privately e.g. by shareholders, investors and run for profit Public sector — Organisations and agencies that form part of Government or publicly-provided services e.g. Local Authorities, NHS, Government departments, emergency services (also known as the statutory sector) Regeneration — improving an area in need e.g. by physical regeneration (new public and commercial buildings), providing jobs, reducing crime, addressing educational under-achievement Regional Resilience Forum (RRF) — A forum established by the Government Office to discuss civil protection issues from the regional perspective and to create a stronger link between local and central government on resilience issues Social capital — definitions vary, but described by the government as “the pattern and intensity of networks among people and the shared values which arise from those networks.” And by the World Bank as “the institutions, relationships and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society’s social interactions... it is the glue that holds [society] together” Social enterprise — a company run on a not-for-profit basis (which may still include making charges) to fulfil a social need Social inclusion — helping to get people connected to the networks, groups and services that can improve their lives (the opposite of social exclusion) Strategic partnership — a broad grouping of agencies and organisations with the main remit of planning to improve social and environmental factors in their designated area of influence (SPs may be local [LSPs] or sub-regional economic partnerships [SREPs]) These areas of influence may include regeneration and economic growth areas Sustainability — the state of something that can last long-term without recourse to e.g. additional funding , is not destructive of resources or the environment, is socially just and involves all who wish to be. “growing” the next generation of volunteers as part of a forward plan, would be an example of this Third Sector — Voluntary, community and faith organisations Unitary Authority — Local Authority that is not part of a tiered system, but has full responsibility for its area; in East of England the Unitary Authorities are Peterborough, Luton, Thurrock, Utilities — companies providing essential services e.g. water, energy, telecommunications Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) — not-for-profit organisations with a mission to meet the needs and/or act as advocates for specified groups and interests Acronyms ACRE — Action for Communities in Rural England [in the East of England, local ACREs are members of RAE] BME — Black and Minority Ethnic CABx — Citizens’ Advice Bureaux CDF — Community Development Foundation CDRPs — Crime and Reduction Partnerships CEHR — Commission for Equalities and Human Rights COVER — Community & Voluntary Forum: Eastern Region CPRE — Campaign to Protect Rural England CRE — Commission for Racial Equality (now being superseded by CEHR) DCA — Dept for Constitutional Affairs DCLG — Dept for Communities and Local Government (now known as CLG) DEFRA — Dept for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DfES — Dept for Education and Skills DfT — Dept for Transport DH — Dept of Health DTI — Dept of Trade and Industry DWP — Dept of Work and Pensions EEDA — East of England Development Agency EERA — East of England Regional Assembly ESF — European Social Fund ESOL — English Spoken as Other Language FCCBF — Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund HSE — Health and Safety Executive ICT — Information and Communication Technology LA — Local Authority LEA — Local Education Authority LGA — Local Government Association MENTER — Black & Minority Network Eastern Region NCVO — National Council for Voluntary Organisations PCT — Primary Care Trust PSA — Public Service Agreement RAE — Rural Action East RRF — Regional Resilience Forum RSL — registered Social Landlord SME — small or medium sized enterprise VCS — Voluntary and Community Sector VYSER — Voluntary Youth Service Eastern Region East of England Faiths Council involvement The East of England Faiths Council (EEFC) is involved with various bodies; do contact us if you feel your work overlaps, or there may be information we should be exchanging. Some of our main involvements are: Representation on EERA and its Panels (the Housing; Skills & Employment; and Social Inclusion Panels) Participation as one of the VCS representatives on the Regional Equalities Group Membership of the Regional Resilience Forum Membership of the Regional VCS Infrastructure Consortium Additionally, the Director of EEFC is a Board Member of COVER, and Graham Hedger of the EEFC Executive is Chair of RAE. Acknowledgements Particular thanks for material and ideas from: Emergency Preparedness, HM Government Faith Groups and Community Work, Essex County Council Keeping it Together, Steve Miller, Faith and Community Development Programme