CFDG responds to government spending review 1

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 21 Sep 2010

CFDG has submitted a response to the government’s comprehensive spending review asking the government to work in partnership with the voluntary sector in order to “actively seek ways it can aid voluntary organisations in creating sustainable futures”.

The response also highlights the importance of finding ways to improve the operating environment for charities in terms of regulatory burden, tax inefficiencies and unfair commissioning and procurement processes.

CFDG’s Policy Manager Megan McInally said “Our research shows that sudden cuts, especially over 20 per cent, that go even deeper than those that have already been put in place, do have the real potential to weaken the sector and are likely to seriously impact on beneficiaries and communities.”

In particular CFDG’s submission has highlighted concerns that the government needs to do more to encourage better communication between local authorities and charities in order to distribute cuts in a way that does not disproportionately affect services that are currently provided in partnership with the charity sector.

McInally added that “the issue for our members is that responsibility for restructuring is being immediately placed on their organisations, with local authorities looking first to external contracts before considering their own internal operations. Frontline services are not protected by this process, neither is efficiency or value for money, and the people ultimately affected are those that are the most vulnerable in society.”

CFDG have therefore asked for improved accountability, transparency and cost-benefit analysis to be applied not only to commissioning and procurement, but also to the process of cutting the funding of services or changing the terms of grants and contracts.

Directory: Charity Finance Directors' Group (CFDG)

Place a comment

John Molyneaux
unemployed/but do voluntery help
heathside education& resourcecentre /service user
21 Sep 2010

I am a service user and whole hartedly agree, with the comments made by megan Mc'Inally.Myself and other mental health service users are a group of people in wandsworth/ that attend a resource centre. that has been running for about thirty years it is in the local community. We are the vulnerable people in socity.And our centre is more than likly going to closed next year. by wandsworth council we have various idears and suggestions. as to ways this may not have to happen , but it seems our views are falling on deaf ears . why are we not listerned to. It because as useuall, because we ar the so called weakest in socity. that we must suffer. hope someone reads this . you can phone me on (**number removed for security reasons**). or email me come and have a chat at our centre . thats if any one can be bothered. waiting in anticipation yours sincerely mr John Molyneaux. ps there will be more comments to come not just on this site. thank you.

[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.