It is no surprise that while preparing to cut funding to charities, Nick Hurd is bringing out the old refrain that charities must get themselves in order, says Dan Fletcher. But it's still not right.

No great surprise that Nick Hurd (or the Robin Bogg version if you prefer) is now talking about the threat of government cutbacks on civil society. Perhaps it’s even refreshing that he didn’t fudge the forthcoming axe blows. At least the government’s “intentions are good”.

It is also no great surprise that the refrain that the “sector needs to get its house in order” is still being heard. The minister hasn’t changed the refrain post-election; it’s just that in the light of a more turbulent future, it sounds a bit rich in comparison with other parts of the not quite as big society we belong to such as high finance and high politics.

While I have no doubt that more efficiencies should and can be found by voluntary sector organisations, productivity isn’t the prime issue. Nick is quite right that “the only constraint on the sector is money; demand will always outstrip supply.” And with George Osborne’s budget plan to reduce everyone’s discretionary spending over the next five years in order to get borrowing under control, money is the one thing that there will be less of.

Isn’t it good then that the voluntary sector continues to cultivate funding and improve itself through programmes such as The King’s Fund’s GSK Impact Awards, launched this week for the 14th year in a row. As demand continues to outstrip supply, at least some of the money is going the right way.