Parliamentary event on charities cuts

I attended this on Monday....

Parliamentary Event Recap – Reflecting on the relationship between charities and councils

Yesterday saw charities, members of the public and Parliamentarians congregate in Committee Room 20 in the Palace of Westminster to hear a discussion about the impact of local government cuts on charities.

The event was chaired by Toby Helm, Political Editor of The Observer, and the panellists wereCouncillor Nicholas Paget-Brown, Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council; Karen Mellanby, Director of Communities and Networks at Mind; Tony Okotie, Chief Executive of Community and Voluntary Action Tameside, and; John Tizard, an advisor and commentator who has previously been a council leader as well as having worked in the third sector.

The debate took place in the wake of the recently updated ‘Counting the Cuts’ report byCompact Voice, which used Freedom of Information requests to scrutinise the relationship between local and authorities and the third sector. Their report found that 50% of responding councils are making disproportionate cuts to charities – that’s reducing funding to charities by a greater amount than their overall budget was cut by Central Government.

Toby Helm kicked off the event by reading a statement from Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who was unable to attend the event in person but argued that councils “must resist any temptation to pull up the drawbridge on the voluntary sector by passing on disproportionate savings.”

The event was then addressed by Dr John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, who explained that the Back Britain’s Charities campaign was launched following research showing a 20% drop in donations. He went on to cite CAF polling which found that one in six charities fear being forced to close in the next year, and further research stating that 67% of charities have seen an increase in demand for the services that they provide. Dr Low explained that as a result of the economic situation charities are being forced to carry a harder and heavier load, and that it seems unfair that some councils are using cuts to charities as an easy way of balancing their budget.

Mr Helm then introduced the panel, and invited Ms Mellanby to make her opening remarks. Ms Mellanby explained that her experience has shown her that charities are both inspirational and innovative. She explained that vulnerable people are finding times extremely challenging, and that these people are struggling to access the support that they need. Some councils are making knee-jerk cuts, she argued, and others have even changed eligibility criteria to reduce the number of people dependent on their services – or “cutting without cutting” as she phrased it. Ms Mellanby argued that, in order to survive, charities must continue to innovate in order to deal with direct challenges, and acknowledged the need for councils and charities to work closely together.

Next the audience heard from Cllr Paget-Brown. He explained that Kensington and Chelsea council has been working in partnership with charities for decades, and argued that his area has been operating as a big society long before ‘Big Society’ became a buzz-term. Whilst K&C have been able to increase their spending, other councils, he suggested, should place an emphasis on strong engagement with the charity sector, stable funding plans set over a period of three years, and challenging the sector to seek efficiencies and collaborative working. This, he argued, would help charities and local authorities work together more effectively and ensure that provision of services and support is retained.

Next to speak was Tony Okotie, who was able to offer a view based upon his first-hand experiences in Tameside. He spoke of the importance of dialogue and interaction between councils and charities when it comes to making cuts, and cited the worrying statistic uncovered by the Compact Voice research that 40% of councils are not holding proper consultation processes before reducing funding to the voluntary sector. Mr Okotie then spoke of the contribution of charities in Tameside, and explained that last year charities undertook 1.4million interventions with users and beneficiaries, and that in Tameside there are 26,000 volunteers providing over 73,000 hours per week to help others. He asked the audience to imagine a world without charities, and argued that there needs to be a strengthening of the interdependency between charities and councils.

The last panellist to speak was John Tizard, who explained that according to the Local Government Association there will be a 30-33% reduction in the size of local government as a result of spending cuts. He criticised the lack of transparency surrounding cuts by some councils, and also argued that central government needs to do a better job of managing expectations when it comes to the role of charities in society. Mr Tizard stated that he personally did not believe central government intervening to enforce Best Value Guidance would be helpful as he felt that this would either be seen as a tick-box exercise or a breach of localism principles. Finally, he reiterated the need for councils and charities to work together arguing that, if they are unable to do so, who is left to support beneficiaries?

Penny Mordaunt MP offers her insights as Dr John Low, Councillor Nicholas Paget-Brown and John Tizard look on

Mr Helm then opened up the debate to the audience, which included Parliamentarians such as Penny Mordaunt MP, Lord Hussain, Baroness Warwick and Gareth Thomas MP, Shadow Minister for Civil Society. In addition, charities includingNottingham CVS, NAVCA, and theFoundation for Social Improvement were keen to ask questions based upon their own experiences, as were a number of councillors from across London. In response, it became clear that the two most salient points to derive from the panel discussion were the importance of a healthy relationship and dialogue between councils and charities, and the need for clearer bidding processes when it comes to grants to make it easier for charities to find the support available to them.

It was obvious from yesterday’s event that there is a great deal of concern about the impact of local government cuts on charities. That’s why the Back Britain’s Charities campaign has been so clear –local authorities should not be cutting funding to charities disproportionately. Interestingly, towards the end of the debate a councillor explained that whilst supportive of charities they could not be his priority, because he is accountable to his voters. Tomorrow we’ll be producing exclusive polling showing what the public think about cuts to charities – check back here to see what the consensus is!