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The chief executive of a voluntary sector professional body has warned that government plans to expand the sector’s role in the delivery of public services will falter unless it agrees to pay 'core costs', writes Sally Gillen.

Stephen Bubb, of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO), told delegates at a conference last week that the government "must commit to a strategy that ensures local and central government pay core costs".

A lack of leadership in the sector meant that organisations "still act like a disparate group of individual organisations happy to be patronised, and grateful for private sector handouts or government contracts," said Bubb.

He said a survey carried out by ACEVO had shown that funding of leadership and professional development within the sector was "pathetically small".

The organisation will publish a guide on core cost allocation in November, he said. ACEVO and the National Council of Voluntary Organisations are to jointly commission a major study of current support and funding for leadership within the sector.

Citing "collective strength" as the key to demanding change, Bubb said there was a case for joint working with other voluntary sector professional bodies such as the NCVO.