Navca has highlighted the shoddy treatment of local voluntary organisations by NHS North Central London as evidence of the “desperate need” for a local authority equivalent of CLG’s Best Value Statutory Guidance.

NHS North Central London has proposed cutting its grants to voluntary groups in Enfield by around £750,000, and recently Navca submitted a Freedom of Information request to obtain the documentation that supported the funder’s decision.

Navca asked to see the board paper, any ‘options report’ written by officers, any assessment of the impact of the proposed cuts on minority groups, and any report prepared following consultation with services users.

But in its reply the NHS body - which combines five North London Primary Care Trusts - admitted that there was no board paper, no written options report, no impact assessment and no consultation response.

Navca chief executive Kevin Curley told civilsociety.co.uk: “It seems a pretty inadequate response to me.  No papers to the board, no options report, no detailed assessments – just a hope that ‘options may emerge from the meetings with each voluntary group’.  

“This confirms what we have been saying about the way the local NHS treats the local voluntary sector. There is a desperate need for the equivalent of CLG’s Best Value Statutory Guidance.”

The CLG guidance says, in relation to local authorities: “An authority should actively engage the organisation and service users as early as possible before a decision is made on the future of the service and the wider impact on the local community” and “authorities should make provision for the organisation, service users and wider community to put forward options on how to reshape the service or project”.