Mind-boggling stuff!

By Ethel Bangwayo
Hertfordshire CVS Group

In recent weeks, most people will have been trying to make sense of the economy, the budget and new policies coming out of the government. I certainly have a number of thoughts running through my professional (as opposed to personal!) mind. Thoughts to do with:

• The economic environment and it’s impact on those with higher levels of deprivation
• Record unemployment and the worries that it has brought to many families up and down the country
• The tone of the emergency budget
• Public sector cuts and what they will ultimately mean for services
• The recently announced welfare cuts and what the implications of those will be
• The recently announced increases in fuel and other taxes.
  

The cuts announced in the budget will, no doubt, affect public service provision with an expectation that the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) will pick up some of the pieces. The Queen, in her speech, confirmed that the "role of social enterprises, charities and cooperatives in our public services will be enhanced". All this at a time when a good number of VCS organisations are already struggling to stay afloat. Then there is the 2.5% rise in VAT. If VCS leaders are unsuccessful in their lobby for a VAT exemption later this year, the effects will be significant. I’m sure the VCS is already doing the calculations.

Somewhere outside this box is a solution, but it is important to shake off the panic and begin to think seriously and innovatively about opportunities. I have heard some talk about Social Enterprise and the introduction of trading functions to VCS organisations. There has been talk about mergers. Others are taking a closer look at their partnerships and exploring opportunities there, while yet others are exploring the sharing of back office functions. Now is not the time to be territorial – there is definitely strength in numbers. Yes, there will be organisations that will be unable to keep going but let it not be for a lack of trying.

Big society will be a core part of public and voluntary sector work but what does it mean? As details emerge, it will be worth thinking about how it relates to your organisation and what role you can play in delivering the agenda. In some cases, it will be these considerations that will widen the gap between the proverbial rock and that hard place, providing room for manoeuvre. It was encouraging to hear the Queen acknowledge that the VCS "… will need to receive the right support and resources, if they are to play their full role in civil society and to deliver high quality, responsive public services”. It will be interesting to see what that support looks like. Watch this space!

For further details about the budget, see the HM Treasury website.

Further details about the Big Society are available on the Big Society website and blog.