Criminal justice charities have reported increased challenges accessing funding and fears about their ability to continue operating.
In response to a survey, published today by infrastructure body Clinks, one in four criminal justice charities said they felt unconfident about their organisation’s financial sustainability over the next two years.
Most voluntary organisations said that their overall level of contract or grant funding for services had increased over the past year or remained the same.
But over a quarter said their funding level had fallen, with around two in five smaller organisations reporting this.
Smaller charities were also more likely to rely on charitable grants than larger organisations (income over £500,000), most of which reported that government contracts were their largest income source.
Clinks’ report says “it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure trust and foundation funding”, with just 26% of respondents securing more than half of the grants they applied for, down from 42% in 2023.
On statutory funding, only a quarter of charities reported achieving full cost recovery on all the services they delivered under contract or sub-contract in the financial year.
As a result of not achieving full cost recovery, two-thirds of charities reported subsidising the shortfall using their own reserves while a third said they had reduced overheads and a fifth had reduced or closed services.
Funding changes recommended
Many charities that participated in Clinks’ focus group for its research called for both statutory and charitable funders to provide funding for three years or longer to enable the provision of sustainable support.
Several organisations also highlighted the need for more core funding to be available as well as a requirement for full cost recovery on contracts.
Greater lead-in times were also recommended to help smaller organisations access funding. This would mitigate capacity constraints and encourage larger charities to build partnerships with smaller organisations, the report reads.
Some charities suggested that funders could better involve voluntary organisations in planning for commissioning including through co-designing services.
