Power is being devolved to a local level and traditional "social contracts" are being broken up but the charity sector is not getting enough say in what replaces them, the NPC Ignite conference heard yesterday.
Neil McInroy, chief executive of the charity consultancy and think tank, the Centre for Local Economic Strategies said the sector was in the midst of finding a new road map after the “break-up of post-war social contracts”.
“We are cursed because it’s hell on earth, because there’s a lot of social pain out there and it’s hard because there is no road map to this new social contract,” he said.
“But we are lucky because for the first time in many generations, we have the chance to forge something new that might be better than the old social contracts in the welfare state.”
"Charities are by and large excluded from the devolution debate. It’s an economic deal between cities, combined authorities and the treasury," he said.
McInroy said there was an opportunity for the sector in devolution and its potential for “system change on a local level”, for the public, social, commercial and charity sector to work together.
“It means you can do things more cheaply, more effectively and more in tune with the citizens and the people of that economy,” he said.
But he said the current devolution model was still too centrally controlled and its emphasis on the treasury’s economic and social model, was “not about democracy or social devolution”.
“It’s a little bit of a particular band of economics," he said. "So no way is this a wholesome devolution. It’s missing a range of important factors. So there’s a problem with it.
Fabian French, chief executive of UK Community Foundations echoed McInroy’s remarks.
“The need for local philanthropy is growing rapidly,” he said. “But how has the localism agenda changed things from the perspective of the community foundations? The answer so far is absolutely not at all.
“The point that civil society is very absent from these discussions is very striking. In Manchester, we have a fabulous, vibrant community foundation run by a great guy who is not known for his reticence. But he is really struggling to get into the debate. Civil Society is not on the agenda yet, which is quite depressing,” he said.
But he said there are “beams of light”.
Whereas the focus of devolution has been largely on government and economics, there will be an “increasing need for a local anchor”, he said.
“In terms of civil society, community foundations are very well positioned to play that role and will have a key role in place building,” he said. "They will be the natural partners and holders of community assets. That’s really important, that the trusted entity can hold assets and make sure they are looked after.”
But he said a challenge for the sector was shifting the focus from geographic boundaries to “emerging entity boundaries”.
“We and other organisations similar to us, are going to have to change our geographic expertise in order to match the devolution agenda,” he said.
“The good news is that irrespective of devolution, philanthropists fund places they care about. It devolution reminds them about places they care about, then they will respond generously, but it’s also fair to say that devolution will not turn more people into philanthropists."
French said larger funders are also beginning to rethink how they deliver funding - from a previously thematic basis to a regional place-based basis.
“That will be good news for civil society, if these big funders like Comic Relief are thinking more about place, that can be brought into the dynamic,” he said.
