Unions warn Big Society 'fantasy' is becoming a 'nightmare' 3

Finance | Zohra Moledina | 8 Feb 2011

The Big Society “is a big con,” Unison’s General Secretary Dave Prentis, will warn at its conference A Future for Civil Society later today.

Leading figures from the country’s unions will converge with members of civil society at the conference hosted by the TUC and Navca this afternoon, but the tone has been set by Prentis and Unite the Union’s General Secretary Len McCluskey.

Prentis will say that the Big Society is being used as “a smokescreen to cut public services” and that “the voluntary sector is being devastated by the withdrawal of grants, slashing of contracts and the latest VAT increase”.

McCluskey, who heads the UK’s largest union, Unite, has claimed the extent of damage equates to a 40 per cent, or £5bn public sector funding cut to the sector.

“The coalition needs to urgently review the funding of the sector in the light of mass devastation of essential services to some of the most marginalised people in our society,” he said in advance of the conference, adding: “The electorate were conned into the Big Society mirage.”

The Big Society’s “short-term fantasy” of using volunteers to undertake professional roles has become “an enduring nightmare for those charities on the precipice of bankruptcy”, he added, claiming that volunteering itself has been placed in jeopardy:

“The funding crisis which we have warned about for the last year will mean there is no edifice to support the Big Society ethos of volunteering.”

The sentiment will be echoed by Prentis who will warn that volunteering numbers have been falling for the last five years and smaller charities in particular are at risk.

McCluskey says that time is running out for UK charities:

“If George Osborne does not address the crisis facing this sector by his budget on 23 March, many charities will go to the wall and that will be the death knell of the Big Society,” he said.

Directory: National Association of Voluntary and Community Action | UNISON

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Ranu Mehta-Radia
Development Officer
Community Link Up
9 Feb 2011

We are the veterans of Big Society, having set up volunteer groups to support people with learning disabilities 30 years back when they were being rehoused in mainstream settings. Recently, we are receiving calls from professionals who have lost their jobs offering to volunteer but we've lost funding for our Volunteer Coordinators post. 2011 was earmarked to celebrate Link Up's 30th anniversery, instead, we are fighting for our survival.

[Reply]

Sue Orton
Manager
Sedgefield Locality Carers Centre
9 Feb 2011

We are a small charity (approx £200,000 turnover) From 31st March our funding for our volunteer co-ordinator is going to be withdrawn by County Council (£25,000 p.a.) We will lose 50 volunteers who provide sitting services, transport to health related appointments and also reception/ admin support for the charity.

[Reply]

Graham Hackett
Project Director
Church Links
8 Feb 2011

I agree with Len McClusky we are already seeing redundancies in the sector and with the recent announcements of local authorities like Oxford, Liverpool, Birmingham and now Manchester the writing's on the wall. Those who are the most vulnerable in society are going to be left in the cold as the support provided by the Voluntary Sector disappears through lack of funding. Volunteering has deminished every year since 2005 and with no Charities left to provide management and support structures due to lack of funding, how are these services going to be provided?

[Reply]

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