As Plunkett announces its search for a Head of External Affairs with a focus on representing a growing movement of rural community-owned businesses, James Alcock, Chief Executive, shares a round-up of recent external affairs activity.
If the last few weeks are anything to go by, our new Head of External Affairs is in line for a very busy and exciting year ahead, with exposure to an incredible range of stakeholders and partners and some special visits behind closed doors…
In December, I attended a roundtable ‘Civil Society Covenant’ consultation event at 10 Downing Street hosted by Stephanie Peacock, Minister for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
I had an opportunity to suggest that government departments consider strategic partnerships with organisations like Plunkett, and base their interventions on the advice and experience of what our members tell us they need.
Not expecting action so quickly, but one of my first emails in January was a request from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to meet and advise them of the practicalities of implementing new and updated Community Rights legislation – something Plunkett has been lobbying hard for since their creation in 2011.
I’ve also since had the pleasure of meeting Daniel Zeichner MP, Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs – twice. Once was for a private audience advising him on some of the challenges faced by rural community businesses and what is needed to grow the sector in line with the governments industrial strategy for growth.
And secondly, with our 12 long-term partners from the Rural Coalition, at which it was fascinating to hear the broader rural policy environment and how that impacts the UK’s farmers, businesses, house-builders, local councils, and residents.
Daniel Zeichner MP speaking at the launch of our report, ‘Community Ownership: A Better Form of Business’ at the House of Lords last year.
It hasn’t all been London-centric activity, as I’ve also had very positive engagements with Scottish Government’s Scottish Rural Network Unit, with whom we have been fortunate to work with for several years now. I was delighted to join my colleague Diane Cameron in updating the department on how their support has directly contributed to a growing and thriving network of community pubs.
Similarly, in Wales, we’ve had the opportunity to actively participate in the Senedd Task and Finish Group on Community Asset Transfers, and the Welsh Community Ownership Group consortium, and recently participated in workshops.
A further celebratory event was at Portcullis House, convened by Better Society Capital, with Access and Pathway Fund – an opportunity to promote the impact of rural community businesses to MPs and other civil society organisations. There was a focus on building the case for dormant asset funding to be invested in growing the community and social enterprise sector – including rural community businesses.
These opportunities would not have been possible without the incredible stewardship of Chris Cowcher, our former Head of Policy and Communications. The bar has certainly been set high as we start our search for a Head of External Affairs! This is an evolved role representing the interests of our members through public affairs activity, in addition to overseeing our wider external affairs including communications and membership.
Apply for this post
Now recruiting! The position of Head of External Affairs is an exciting opportunity to join the Plunkett team, and lead and implement our strategy in this area of work. The application deadline for this role is Monday 24 February at 9am and you can find out more and download the recruitment pack on our website.
Inform our public affairs work
As well as the national campaigns we are involved with, Plunkett remains committed to supporting individual member interests – on both local and national matters. Please get in touch via membership@plunkett.co.uk and see how we can support you in addressing matters which are affecting your business.