[WiLT] Contract Culture - a grim game of musical chairs for the voluntary sector?

[WiL Admin]

Contract Culture - a grim game of musical chairs for the voluntary
sector?



...



(An) icy wind is blowing through the voluntary sector. Hundreds of
projects face a future in which the only certainty is that more must
be done with less.



Many staff have already received their redundancy notices. The
contract culture, far from being the magic key that opens the door to
smarter services and a bigger bang for the buck, is turning into a
grim game of musical chairs in which the winners are those who know
how to elbow aside their competitors.



That doesn't mean the winners are sharks and charlatans. Most are
dedicated people who offer valuable and cost-effective services.



The problem is that others who also offer dedication and value won't
make it - but the costs don't show up in the public accounts. And we
wonder why we often see such small results for such great efforts.



Last week Paul Evans, the former urban policy chief at the ODPM, said
how liberating it was to be able to express what he really thought.



'Don't believe the government when it says it's going to give you the
power to do things yourself,' he commented.



'What it means is it hasn't got the money, and it's giving you the
opportunity not to have the money as well.'



We need people like him to tell the real story about what's happening
to public services.



But, even more, we need people at the heart of government now who'll
speak out when the emperor has no clothes.



Part of a comment by Julian Dobson, editorial director
editorial at newstartmag.co.uk



http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/comment/