Author Archives: Andy Benson

Government hand washing guidance – the legacy of the CENs

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“Community empowerment is local government’s core business”

Simon Milton (in DCLG’s 2007 Action Plan for Community Empowerment)

“Power is never given.”

Operation Black Vote organising slogan

One of the ironies of community empowerment networks (CEN’s) was that they couldn’t empower themselves, or more accurately save themselves from the crude dynamics of how power works at … Continue reading

Who’s in charge of independence?

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By Nick Seddon, Third Sector, 20 February 2008

There was a sumptuous moment last spring when a leaked internal government memo revealed that Ian McCartney, then trade minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, had told officials to cancel meetings with charities opposed to the new EU economic agreements “if they don’t change their tune”.… Continue reading