Charities win consultation rights

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Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, has been busy putting out reassurances to the Community Fund and the voluntary sector in the wake of her Lowry speech at the end of February, in which she confirmed her intention to merge NOF and the CF.

Jowell’s Lowry speech contained various pledges on the key issues of concern to the Community Fund’s board, but this did not prevent a surge of hostility from key voluntary sector figures, including Stephen Bubb, head of Acevo (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) and his counterpart at the NCVO, Stuart Etherington. The Culture Secretary subsequently wrote to the Community Fund’s chair, Diana Brittan, restating guarantees on independence, share of funding and addi-tionality, and specifically addressing the eight points of concern raised by CF’s board in January. Lady Diana said: ‘The letter was quite positive. I’m encouraged by the fact that at this level, some of the major concerns of the voluntary sector are being understood.’

She continued: ‘An assurance is only an assurance when it becomes much more concrete. But the department understands there are genuinely held concerns that they are beginning to address. It makes it possible to carry on a dialogue in a more positive frame of mind.’ Jowell also invited Bubb, Etherington and the National Association of CVSs to a meeting on 8 April to hear their thoughts about the merger. Bubb said the representatives reiterated the three key messages, plus a fourth concern about keeping grant-making accessible to all-comers. The group put forward the possibility of the new distributor operating two broad strands of programmes: an open-access scheme for direct applications from all-comers; plus a strand for government-directed / partnership pro-grammes. The latter strand should be directed only at a strategic level, Bubb says. ‘So the government would say, here are six key priorities and these are the outcomes we want, and then leave it to the distribution body to devise the programmes that best meet that.’ 

The voluntary sector representatives also queried the need for the new distributor to be a non-departmental public body, suggesting that other legal forms such as a foundation or community interest company might better underwrite the Culture Secretary’s assurance of independence.

Bubb said: ‘It was a positive meeting. The fuss we’ve made – and I’ve had huge correspondence from members on this, as has NACVS – has brought us on board.’ Acevo, NACVS and NCVO are also meeting with CF, NOF and the DCMS in the first of what Bubb hopes will become a regular forum in the lead-up to publication of the funding review white paper in July. The speed with which merger preparations progress is likely to be an early cause of tension, as the government is committed to putting together a plan for merger and shadow operating structure as quickly as possible, whereas the voluntary sector and CF are determined that consultation should not be undermined by precipitate operational decisions.