In an introductory letter to the new Economic Secretary to the Treasury, UK charity leaders have called for backing to contest local authority cuts.

Welcoming Sajid Javid to his new role (which he took on 4 September), the leaders of 14 voluntary sector organisations including Navca, Acevo, Charity Finance Group and Big Society Capital listed a number of concerns and actions they wished Javid to support. A number of signatories also attended a meeting with the Treasury this morning, where these concerns were reiterated. 

Among the points raised was concern about the effect of cuts to charity tax reliefs at local level.

"These reliefs are based on the clear principle that charities serve the public good," reads the letter sent on 19 October. "Yet we know that certain local authorities are curtailing the discretionary element of business rate relief," it continues.

"Short-term manoeuvres like this harm our sector - in many cases putting their local (and in some cases only) presence at risk - and do not serve the public interest. We trust that you will stand with us, as we will be prepared to contest such manoeuvres in the strongest terms," the leaders advised.

In addition the leaders made the case for additional funding, calling for the Treasury to recognise the key role that advice services can play in relation to preparing people for the impact of welfare reforms.

Seeing potential to "re-purpose any underspends such as on the Regional Growth Fund" - which in the last financial year had an underspend of £10m - the leaders pointed to a proposal from Navca and Locality that would see such funds used to establish neighbourhood bonds in some of the most deprived areas in England. A spokesman for Navca advised that the proposals are at an early stage and have not yet been submitted to the Treasury.

The leaders applied further pressure over the need for greater opportunities for small and medium-sized voluntary organisations in public service commissioning. Welcoming the steps already taken to address the need to include the sector from as early a stage as possible, such as the establishment of a new Commissioning Academy and the passing of the Social Value Act, the leaders advised that ministers must now work to ensure these work. 

They also called for measures to alleviate regulatory and tax burdens of social enterprises, such as the requirement for Community Interest Companies to pay full rate corporation tax despite re-investing their profits in their social mission.

Read the full letter here: Letter to Sajid Javid