[WiLT] Small community initiatives are under threat because different funding streams

[WiL Admin]

'Urgent need' to join up funding streams claims Blunkett

Small community initiatives are under threat because different funding
streams for regeneration projects are not properly joined up,
according to a report by former home secretary David Blunkett.

His report, commissioned by the prime minister for the Fabian Society
think tank, argues that the switch in regeneration budgets from the
new deal for communities programme and neighbourhood renewal fund to
the working neighbourhoods fund (WNF) is causing small local projects
'considerable financial difficulty'.

It points to an 'urgent need' to link different funding streams,
including those from regional development agencies, in order to
sustain local projects, particularly in the case of adult education
and training programmes that have not been deemed eligible to receive
WNF.

The change in funding has led to confusion in some areas, with many
projects unnecessarily prevented from applying to both the European
Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, because of the
way in which new funding arrangements have been set up.

Meanwhile, there is an underspend in Train to Gain, the government
programme designed to help employers improve staff skills.

'Greater coordination between local regeneration projects which aim to
get people into work and Train to Gain funding would yield
considerable results,' writes Mr Blunkett.

'This [issue] should and could be rapidly resolved by the use of
flexibility and common sense.'

The report highlights a need for special three-year funding for new
organisations, particularly those in the third sector catering for
minority groups, saying that year-on-year funding is inappropriate for
those trying to get off the ground.

It suggests that a public benefit test be introduced to measure the
impact of services.

Mr Blunkett also urged the government to recognise the added value
offered by the third sector by preserving the role of grant funding,
which he described as 'critical' for enabling some organisations to
provide services to those who most need them.

The report was welcomed by Kevin Curley, chief executive of the
National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, who urged
third sector groups to take Mr Blunkett's comments to their local
authorities to argue the case for grants.

'Whereas contracts dictate to a local organisation precisely what
funders want doing, grants enable the funder to support the
aspirations of a local group that really understands what is needed,'
he said.

Mutual action, common purpose: empowering the third sector,
http://fabians.org.uk

http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/news/article/urgent-need-to-join-up-funding-streams-claims-blunkett-in-fabian-society-report


Mutual Action Common Purpose

Blunkett: rich need to step up in the downturn

The financial chaos of recent months has reinforced the importance of
both government and community,  writes David Blunkett MP in a new
Fabian Freethinking paper, leaving Labour in a position to play to its
strengths.

The paper stresses the importance of the giving of time and money -
but calls on wealthy individuals and businesses to do more to pull
their weight:

"Rich people should be encouraged to contribute more," he says.

Blunkett - who recently chaired the Labour Manifesto Group on the
Third Sector - writes that "Labour is the only major political party
that grew from the grassroots up. Where elected governments are the
only mechanism to deal with global events, it is through personal
giving, mutual action and the reinforcement of social structures that
men and women can make the difference."

But the recession must not be an excuse for ignoring obligations.

"There are more charities competing for less money - exacerbated by
the fact that real fears are emerging of a substatioal shortfall,
including the impact of fluctuating capital investments."

This compounds already bleak trends in the UK's approach to charity,
with the number who donate in decline and the overall level of
donations flat.

Blunkett is critical that "corporate social reponsiblity is not yet a
feature of the landscape, as it is in the United States."

"The wealthiest 10 per cent in Britain represent 56 per cent of the
nation's wealth, but only 21 per cent of giving. It is often those
least able to give who proportionately give the most, and it is from
these indivuals and families that heartfelt giving can promote the
wellbeing of those around them."

"Sadly, the generosity of individuals is not always matched by
corporate giving and corporate social responsibility," he adds.

The Freethinking report paints a picture of a third sector that is
expanding and thriving, and whose "social glue" is increasingly
important as we enter a recession. But Blunkett takes issue with a
Conservative Party approach that sees the third sector as a substitute
for government:

 "If one thing above all refutes the suggestion that Britain is
broken, it is the strength of our third sector," says the former Home
Secretary. "It demonstrates the very existence and resilience of civil
society. Where that resilience has been washed away, families lack
support, communities become fractured, and it is the job of government
to support and help their renewal."

This vision of the third sector as complementing and bolstering state
action is a direct challenge to the Iain Duncan Smith view that sees
the third sector as merely a means of delivering services more
efficiently or more cheaply.

http://fabians.org.uk/publications/publications-news/mutual-action-philanthropy


Read the full report: Mutual Action Common Purpose (PDF 172.74 Kb)
http://fabians.org.uk/images/stories/mutual_action_common_purpose_freethinking.pdf