How the Tories are planning to strip another £300 million a year from charities
Coverage has been largely restricted to the specialist press, so I think it’s worth bringing to wider attention a secretive little government scheme to strip up to £300 million a year from an already battered voluntary and community sector.
The Cabinet Office is running a statutory consultation until 18th November on the future policy direction of the Big Lottery Fund (BLF). Proposed new policy direction B is:
The need to ensure that the Fund achieves the distribution of funds to a reasonably wide spread of projects, primarily those delivered by the voluntary and community sector and social enterprises, including small organisations, those organisations operating at a purely local level, newly constituted organisations, organisations operating as social enterprises and organisations with a base in the United Kingdom and working overseas (my emphasis).
The small but significant change here is that, under this new direction, not all money will go to the VCS (in its broadest terms).
This is quite different from what was promised in the Conservative manifesto in 2010:
We will restore the national Lottery to its original purpose and, by cutting down on administration costs, make sure more money goes to good causes. the big Lottery fund will focus purely on supporting social action through the voluntary and community sector, instead of ministers’ pet projects as at present. Sports, heritage and the arts will each see their original allocations of 20 per cent of good cause money restored (p.39, my emphasis).
It is also quite different from what we were told, nearly exactly a year ago, by a Tory Minister:
The National Lottery has a fine record of supporting VCS projects, and we are absolutely clear that this work should continue. We will be directing the Big Lottery Fund to make sure that its future funding is focused very clearly on the VCS (my emphasis);
Fortunately, those good people down at the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) have spotted the subtle change of language, and their Chief Executive has come out fighting:
A year ago the Government reduced the share of good cause money going to the Big Lottery Fund from 50% to 40% and increased the shares going to support heritage, sport and art. At that time Ministers promised that 100% of Big Lottery Fund spend would be in the voluntary sector. Now they are just saying that primarily the money will go to our sector.
Public spending cuts especially in local government grants mean that there is more pressure than ever on lottery funding. I am worried that this is a quiet signal that more Big Lottery Fund spending will go to the statutory sector. And I would feel that the whole voluntary sector has been let down if the government reneges upon the reassurances it gave us just 12 months ago.
NAVCA estimates that if this new policy direction is followed through as they fear, up to £300 million a year could be lost to local charities and community groups.
Last week’s childcare support announcement started to fall apart under scrutiny, and today TCF and False Economy exposed how Cameron’s very personal ”Community right-to-buy” promise didn’t make it as far as reality. Here again the Tory devil is hidden in the civil service detail.
It really is starting to look like cuts by subterfuge may be a deliberate government strategy.
I don’t understand – if it’s only primarily though the vcs where is the non-primarily part going – to social action through the private sector?