Charities and membership bodies have urged the chancellor to ensure her upcoming autumn budget “doesn’t place further burdens on the voluntary sector”.
This week, 20 leaders of organisations including the Charity Finance Group, ACEVO and NCVO, signed a joint letter to Rachel Reeves ahead of her next budget on 26 November.
In the letter, coordinated by Scottish umbrella body SCVO, the signatories said the sector “already faces a perfect storm of falling funding, rising costs, and climbing demand”.
“We’re particularly mindful of the negative impact that changes to employer national insurance contributions have had on voluntary sector employers across the UK,” they said in the letter.
“These measures, introduced following last year’s budget despite clear appeals from the sector, have driven up employment costs and made it harder for organisations to attract and retain the skilled staff they need to deliver vital services for people and communities.”
The signatories asked that any future proposals be developed in “genuine partnership with civil society”, in line with the commitments set out in the Civil Society Covenant.
“This means open communication, early engagement, and a shared understanding of the impact on organisations, our staff and volunteers, and the people and communities we work with,” they said.
Last month, the Civil Society Group published its budget policy asks, which outline key reforms the government should implement so that the UK voluntary sector can continue delivering “vital services”.
For the first time, the group, a collaboration of over 80 civil society infrastructure and membership organisations, called on the government to support the sector to “safely adopt AI”, including creating a fund to tackle the digital divide among smaller charities.
