Charities call for increased funding in government’s spending review

03 Sep 2019 News

Sajid Javid

Charity representative bodies have called on the chancellor Sajid Javid to provide more funding for civil society in the government’s spending review tomorrow.

Javid’s funding announcement on Wednesday will only cover the year 2020-21 ahead of a full three-year spending review next year.

A letter to Javid signed by charity bodies including NCVO, ACEVO and the Charity Finance Group calls for no-deal Brexit funding for civil society organisations.

It says: “Any funds made available in preparation for a no-deal Brexit must be available to civil society organisations.”

Additionally, it calls for the creation of a “resilient communities fund”, set up specifically for charities working with and supporting local communities in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

It calls for increased funding for local authorities over the next year and in the long term, warning that charities stepping in to provide public services no longer provided by councils have seen their reserves diminish.

The letter urges the creation of a “community wealth fund”, using dormant assets to help deprived communities re-build their social infrastructure and re-establish social and civic capital.

It also calls for the government to launch its repeatedly delayed consultation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), designed in part to replace the current European Social Funds, “as soon as possible”.

The full list of signatories are:

  • Debra Allcock Tyler, chief executive, Directory of Social Change
  • Tony Armstrong, chief executive, Locality
  • Caron Bradshaw, chief executive, Charity Finance Group
  • Vicky Browning, chief executive, ACEVO
  • Rita Chadha, chief executive, Small Charities Coalition
  • Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive, NCVO
  • Kathy Evans, chief executive, Children England
  • Carol Mack, chief executive, Association of Charitable Foundations
  • Paul Streets, chief executive, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
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