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.