Call for government to pay core costs

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.

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 organisations “still act like a
disparate group of individuals happy to be patronised and grateful
for private sector handouts or government contracts”, said Bubb. He
added that a survey carried out by Acevo had shown that funding of
leadership and professional development within the sector was
“pathetically small”.

Acevo
will publish a guide on core cost allocation in November, and Acevo
and the National Council of Voluntary Organisations will jointly
commission a major study of support and funding for leadership
within the sector.

Outlining the role the sector
could play in delivering public services, Bubb said: “We have an
added advantage over the public and private sectors in our relative
lack of bureaucracies and slavery to shareholder value, and our
ability to harness voluntary activity.”