Bubb offers government a sector 'fairness panel' to examine cuts 2

Finance | Tania Mason | 9 Sep 2010

Acevo has written to Chancellor George Osborne urging him to set up a ‘fairness panel’ of civil society leaders who will examine the proposed spending review figures to ensure that the most vulnerable people are not unduly penalised.

In the letter, chief executive Stephen Bubb cited the Prime Minister’s comments in the coalition’s Programme for Government, in which he said the government would ensure that fairness is at the heart of the difficult decisions to come, “so that all those most in need are protected”.

Bubb wrote that sector leaders were already starting to see cuts on the ground at local level and were worried that if the fairness commitment is not adhered to in the forthcoming spending review, “we will slip unintentionally into cuts that hit the most vulnerable hardest”.

The sector’s leaders were “standing ready to help” the government understand how spending cuts will impact on different communities, and to help find solutions to the problem of how to cut spending whilst protecting the most needy.

He then called on the Chancellor (pictured) to set up a ‘fairness panel’ of sector leaders who could scrutinize the final stages of the spending review process. “The aim of this group would be to ensure that fairness and protection of the most vulnerable is at the heart of decision-making on cuts and also to explore with departments ways in which partnership between the state and our sector could help cut spending without disproportionately impacting on those most in need,” Bubb wrote.

Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
Who's Who: Sir Stephen Bubb

Place a comment

Fab Jobsworth
Umbrella
4 Oct 2010

A silly idea? I don't think Mr Bubb's Curriculum Vitae would agree with you. He's just worked out that he is trailing Sir Stuart by 2 committeeships, and he's got to invent some more to keep up.

He'll be able to point out the true unfairness of these cuts. With quangos being cut left right and centre, where is a chap supposed to get a proper lunch?

[Reply]

Paul N Rossi
ce
NBI
13 Sep 2010

I am not clear why leaders from the voluntary sector should be better at determining "fairness" than anybody else.

Any chief executive of a voluntary organisation will surely be putting the case, as robustly as possible, for the beneficiaries of his or her own organisation, and quite right too.

How can the chief executive of an organisation in, say the disability sector, be copmpetent to judge their beneficiaries needs against, say, the elderly, or pre-school, or poverty etc ? It would just be yet another talking shop that would meet a lot, and decide very little.

It is a silly idea.

[Reply]

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.