A new home for my blog

My blog has now moved to http://www.cdfa.org.uk/news/bernies-blog/. Read my latest post about the impact of the election.

My manifesto

The UK’s first live televised prime ministerial debate generated hundreds of column inches and the unanimous agreement that the winner was Nick Clegg. Looking fresh out of Sixth Form, Clegg moved himself effortlessly into the spotlight and challenged his more experienced contenders with a confidence that no-one predicted. But he had the easiest job of the three. He had nothing to lose and could afford to go for broke, which he clearly did. The irony is, however, that he has now raised expectations of his performance on the next debates. If he is weaker in these (and Cameron and Brown will do their best to upstage him, now they know what they are facing), his previous performance will be seen as a fluke. So, from having the easiest job in the last debate, he has the hardest in the next.

Whichever government is in post after 6^th May, here are two key policies I hope they pursue. Firstly, that access to finance is a cross-departmental issue and policy should be housed in one place, possibly Treasury. Or a cross-departmental champion should be appointed to ensure policies work together of create a truly enabling framework for the CDFI sector to grow and deliver the best possible services to its clients. Secondly, that the benefits system supports disadvantaged entrepreneurs, recognising the risk they are taking in becoming self employed and independent of the state. The system should taper benefits, giving them time to build their business and income. In doing so, the rewards are manifold for both the individual and the state.

On the home front

Moving my mother into a small house, I had to sort through thousands of family photos recently. All those moments in time: bad hair, dreadful fashions and gawky teens. There were babies, baptisms and birthdays, bringing back so many memories. Most poignantly, the photos inadvertently captured the decline of my father as cancer increased its vice-like grip his body, until his battle ended. Ten years ago this week.

Taking the CDFI message to Number 10

Well, what a week! I was asked into Number 10 Downing Street on Friday to discuss CDFIs with the PM’s special advisor. It was a helpful and constructive meeting and it is clear that all our lobbying efforts are bearing fruit. The PM is really interested in what we do and is making financial inclusion a key part of his election campaign. Now, more than ever, we need to our members to get behind our campaign and work together to demonstrate we are strong and cohesive sector with a real offer; we are the only people working in this space and we should shout it from the rooftops.

The Budget was really exciting, too. Mention of transparency, a bank levy, financial inclusion and community lenders would all have been unthinkable just a few short months ago. Number 10 has asked for our ideas on how these will all fit together and we will be working with them to make it happen in the most appropriate way, so that underserved communities really have access to high quality and responsible financial services, wherever they are located and whatever their background. Our press release was quoted in the Guardian and in the FT online – thanks to Joe Dumont our Head of Comms for his input on them.

Last week we also held our annual staff awayday (thanks to Clifford Chance for supporting it) where we celebrated cdfa’s 8^th birthday and celebrated our achievements. Of course, never an organisation to rest on its laurels, we looked forward to the challenges ahead as well and recognised that there are loads of opportunities on the horizon. We just need to make sure they are all optimised at the right time to maximise the lasting impact on the UK’s poorest communities. It was an energetic and constructive day and I am proud to lead such a passionate and committed staff team. Thanks to our Professional Development Manager, Corinne Thompson, for organising the programme.

Earlier in the week I went to Belfast and visited our two NI members UCIT and ENI. It was great to catch up with them and find our all their plans and developments. I love visiting members – so don’t forget to invite me round for a cup of tea…

It’s official - but we knew it all along!

Well, it’s official - an independent government study published last week found that ‘CDFIs continue to address the consistent market failure to reflect the economic and social benefits of lending in underserved markets.’ It also said that ‘there exists strong and robust evidence for continued public support to CDFIs.’ Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! Of course we in the sector have known this all along but were always subject to the riposte ‘well you would say that, wouldn’t you.’ Now we have an independent study that backs us up. It also validates the cdfa’s flagship publication, Inside Out, as the key resource for information on sector trends and developments.

At cdfa, we are using the document as a resource to support our lobbying campaign, particularly in the run-up to the general election and beyond. A pack will be going out to all our members in the next week, it will have a covering letter from our Chair, David Herd of Social Investment Scotland which is a call to all members to speak with one voice and join the campaign to ensure the sector gets the support it needs into the future. It’s now or never.

The sector is obviously appearing on other radars too. Recently, I have been approached by range of private sector companies looking to offer products to our members. Their interests vary as does their knowledge of the sector - but the ideas are often worth following up. This wouldn’t have happened a few short years ago, so it is a sign of that the sector is maturing. Mind you, there is a real cultural and language divide which needs bridging. Sometimes I have no idea what the private sector guys are actually saying to me and at others I see their eyes glaze over in a stupor when I am talking!

On the home front:

I had lunch recently with a tall, dark, handsome, intelligent, witty and charming young man. My son. Sometimes in life you have to look back and see what you have achieved. When I see my son and his sisters, I can’t help but think: job well done.

Challenging times - but exciting too

Although the Tory Party Spring Forum made the news headlines over the weekend, I was there and found it was a very subdued affair. I had thought it would be upbeat, full of expectation and excitement – but there was no zing at all. Admittedly, the polls were not good for them at the time, but I think that is all the more reason for rallying the troops. Much was made of David Cameron’s speech but to my mind by far the best orator in the whole of the party (or the whole of Parliament, for that matter) is William Hague. He has always been a powerful and engaging speaker and was no different this weekend during the Forum’s opening session.

Yesterday I chaired a conference on financial exclusion where Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Exchequer Secretary was the keynote speaker. She has a real passion for the topic and an understanding of the long term issues which need to be addressed. She stressed the Government’s commitment to financial inclusion in its many forms.

Our lobbying seminar was a great success and we will be in contact with all members shortly with some advice and resources on getting involved in the election campaign, which is only weeks away now. It will be a challenging time, but like all challenging times, it will be really exciting too.

So, it’s been a bit of a political week: but then that’s how it is going to be for some time to come.

On the home front:

Have booked a new stand-up gig in April, and have run out of ideas – so am off to a writers workshop next weekend. Also, next weekend I am in the third round of a public speaking competition competing in two disciplines. In one of them I will be have eight minutes to turn round an engaging, entertaining four minute speech. Given that the general guidance for preparing a speech is that it takes an hour to write a minute, the competition will be truly challenging. But then, I always did like a challenge!

Mindblowing!

What a great trip that was! I really built on my learning from and confirmed my belief that there is a lot for UK CDFIs to learn from the Indian experience. There are many similarities and differences with both operational and strategic issues.

Operationally, for instance, CDFIs in both countries face access to capital as a major issue, as is the balance between social and financial goals. Just like the UK. However the scale of the problem in India is much larger than in the UK. One microfinance organisation (MFI) we visited, had been in operation for nine years, and had just started making a profit. It employs 1500 people, has 279 branches and 370,000 clients. Yet they, and the other 800 MFIs in India, have only penetrated less than 10% of the market. Mindblowing! Another operational issue is capacity and performance: technical assistance in India echoes the cdfa’s performance framework, Change Matters: they look at the same challenges and provide similar guidance, which is good to know. Information on performance was readily available as India has a culture of bureaucracy. The MFIs were planned, monitored, evaluated, internally audited, systematised and processed to within an inch of their lives – it all provided a clear picture of their businesses and impact and allowed for really good discussions. Building clients’ business skills is another challenge for both countries as it is a hugely important part of the work we all do, a key way of addressing this is by working with partners: this goes on in both countries as well.

Strategically, as in the UK, CDFIs in India use a variety of legal frameworks and legislation is an issue. A bill is currently working its way slowly through the system: which means this is a step further forward than us. This issue of overindebtedness is beginning to rear its head in India: it has been a challenge here for a number of years. As in the UK, there is a debate on having a levy on the cost of credit with strong polarised opinions on the matter.

My most memorable experience was visiting the slums of Mumbai. Amid the stench and the squalor I met women, MFI clients, who were using their loans to change their lives and that of their families. In my naiviety, I marvelled at how clean they were. They were all dressed in beautiful saris, had glowing skin and shiny hair. Their tiny homes were immaculately kept: all this is no small feat without running water and having to share toilet facilities with 15 other families. When I remarked on this to our guide he told me, matter of factly, that the slums are rife with disease and the woman know that, unless they keep everything really clean, their children will die.

With thanks to RBS for facilitating the trip and to my fellow Advisory Board members for their insights and perspectives.

Speaking up in the general election

As part of our lobbying before the general election, we have organised a free seminar for members at 10.30am on 3rd March, at cdfa's offices in London. The renowned public affairs expert Wendy Deller - previously the Public Affairs Director for Barclays, and now an independent consultant - will be joining us to discuss how you can make your voice heard in the election. You can book your place at the seminar here.

To help shape the agenda for the seminar we are holding a webchat at 11am next Friday (12th) on our social networking website, www.cdfamembers.org.uk. Watch out for more details from us very shortly.

Earlier this week I was a part of a roundtable with the Conservative party discussing banking reform. It is clear that the Tories like what we do as it appeals to their wish to support enterprise, encourage people off benefits and improve the impact of public finances by making them stretch further. We just all need to work together to promote the same message to the different political parties. Our lobbying seminar will help us do just that.

I recently went to Scotland and met up with our members, Scotcash, DSL and Social Investment Scotland. In the case of SIS, I made a presentation to their board about cdfa and its work. I love meeting boards: lots of new people with different backgrounds and perspectives, all firing questions at me! The sort of thing I thrive on. If any members want me to meet their boards as well, I would be only too happy to oblige. Just let me know.

In Sheffield recently I also met up with Key Fund Yorkshire and Donbac, our work with Yorkshire Forward has moved on recently and we hope to be able to announce something concrete soon.

I have also been to Brussels to present the cdfa’s Code of Practice to the European Commission. It seems we are the only country in Europe that has such a code and the Commission was very impressed by it. Once again the cdfa leads the international field! I am incredibly proud of all our work and the fact that it has such international recognition.

Readers of this post will see a key theme here: I have been travelling a lot in the last couple of weeks (mustn’t moan – I did get one night out of seven in the homestead. Just time to cook a meal, wash up, unpack, do some washing, re-pack, jump into bed and get up early the next day for the Sheffield trip!). But it’s not all glamour, you know. In my Glasgow hotel I was awake all night due to rowdy football crowds. In Brussels, I got to my hotel room to find it occupied by an elderly, rather portly, American gentleman (he didn’t seem surprised to see me and invited me in!!). Returning to London the next day, I just got into my hotel in time to watch the late night edition of Eastenders, only to find the TV didn’t work. Life!

On the theme of travel, I am going to India this coming week with RBS global Microfinance Advisory Board, of which I am a member. I hope the travelling will be less eventful than recently and know I will come back with loads of good ideas. Watch this space.

On the homefront.

My reign as a domestic goddess is well and truly over. I decided to clean the oven last weekend. A long overdue job, it was filthy. But somehow I broke it. So now it is lovely and clean but completely useless. In the normal course of events, I won’t be using it until next Christmas, so I am not too bothered!