CSR 2010: A summary

By: COVER: Community & Voluntary Forum Eastern Region


The 20th has been and gone and the number-crunching has begun. The Government has announced that it will cut £81 billion from public spending, with 490,000 public sector jobs likely to go in the next four years. It plans for the structural deficit to be eliminated by 2015.

What do the cuts mean for the VCS?

The most significant announcement for the VCS is the £100m transition fund to support those Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations most affected by public spending reductions in the short term. Details about how soon this fund will be available, how it will be administered and who will qualify have not been finalised, but some organisations have welcomed the announcement as government’s recognition that many of the cuts will have a significant effect on the sector.

Other references to the VCS:

• Local Authorities will be encouraged to increase their delivery of services through the VCS;
• a commitment to set proportions of appropriate services across the public sector that should be delivered by independent providers, such as the VCS, Social Enterprise and the private sector;
• mention of previously announced changes to Big Lottery funding; and
• reforms to the prison service which will include paying private and voluntary providers by results for delivering reductions in reoffending.

The report states that “The reforms underpinning the Spending Review represent a significant increase in the opportunities and funding available to the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in the medium and longer term.”

What do the cuts mean for the East of England?

• A £1.4 billion Regional Growth fund has been introduced.
• Capital investment programmes in the East of England will “concentrate on new investment on infrastructure underpinning economic growth, and maintaining existing public assets.” This will include upgrading the remaining section of the A11 to provide a continuous dual carriageway link between Norwich and the M11.
• Community budgets will be run in 16 local areas from April 2011, for families with complex needs.
• Funding for increased participation in education and training will benefit 5.9% of 16-18 year olds in the region that are not in Education, Employment or Training. The rise in the Basic State Pension will benefit around 1.1 million people in the region.
• The creation of a Green Investment Bank will encourage investment in green infrastructure and will be particularly important for the region’s offshore wind farm industry.
  

What do the cuts mean for Hertfordshire?
Details will be shared as they become available.


Useful links

For more information and to access the full document please visit the Treasury website.
NCVO response
IPPR response
The BBC’s ‘Spending Review in Graphics’
COVER website.