September 2009: Now is the time for Government to focus on simplifying and improving its policies for charities, says DSC

As party conferences begin, a national charity championing the needs of the voluntary sector is calling for political parties to consider five election pledges it says will improve the support government provides for charities at little or no cost.

The Directory of Social Change (DSC) says funding for new policy initiatives is unlikely to be available during the next parliament, but there are plenty of ways that government can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its giving without resorting to cuts.

The ‘election pledges’ devised by DSC, short statements of principle which include some key examples, focus on the importance of local grant funding, the  effectiveness of the Office of the Third Sector (OTS), the availability of grant funding terms and conditions, government’s consultation process, and the importance of research in policy-making.

DSC Director of Policy and Research Ben Wittenberg says, “Charities are routinely constrained by the processes of government, ways of doing things that inhibit efficiency, choke innovation, and trap both sides into repeating the same expensive mistakes.

There is no call for funding here, in fact most pledges would require little or no cost, and would offer huge returns to both the voluntary sector and government. They are achievable without creating any new body or administrative organisation; they would benefit tens of thousands of organisations immediately; and they are sustainable.”

DSC is calling for government to:

1. Make the terms and conditions of grants and contracts available to applicants before they apply, and to remove standard conditions that mean the Crown owns the intellectual copyright to work funded by the Government;
2. Improve consultation by using existing guidance, and to stop ‘nonsultations’ - hugely costly consultation exercises that have no influence on policy development because the outcomes have already been decided;
3. Capture and publicise raw data on statutory funding for the voluntary sector, to enable sensible and informative discussion about what causes and work government is supporting, and how this is changing over time;
4. Think local. Stop commissioning services from charities in a way that means that larger, national organisations are the only ones who can compete, and learn from the BIG Lottery Fund’s grant-making experience;
5. Scrutinise legislation, regulation and policy, by giving the Office of the Third Sector sufficient power and capacity to effectively influence other departments where policy is causing confusion, damage and waste, and introduce better parliamentary oversight of policy decisions that affect the voluntary sector.

For more information please contact Jay Kennedy, Policy Officer for Directory of Social Change, by email or phone (07989 187 537).  

Notes to editors:
A national charity, the Directory of Social Change (DSC) is the largest supplier of information and training to the voluntary sector. DSC supports over 20,000 voluntary sector organisations every year and has a clear perspective on the issues currently affecting a very diverse range of groups. Currently, DSC is campaigning for better relationships between funders and those they fund through its Great Giving campaign. For more information, visit www.dsc.org.uk/greatgiving.