13 October 2016, 17:16

Autumn Statement 2016: what have national infrastructure bodies called for?

As my colleague Andrew has argued back in July, the Post-Brexit Autumn Statement is the first key battleground for the charity sector. CFG has worked with ACEVO, Association of Charitable ...

As my colleague Andrew has argued back in July, the Post-Brexit Autumn Statement is the first key battleground for the charity sector. CFG has worked with ACEVO, Association of Charitable Foundations, Charity Finance Group, Institute of Fundraising, Locality, NAVCA, NCVO, Small Charities Coalition, Social Enterprise UK, and Voice4Change to develop a series of policy options for the Treasury. You can download the submission on CFG's website.

 It has arguably never been a more important time for the sector to proactively develop policies and present positive solutions to the social and economic challenges that the country is currently facing. The new Chancellor, Phillip Hammond has made some positive statements around abandoning his predecessor's target of reaching a budget surplus by the end of the Parliament in 2020. However, Hammond has been clear that this will not result in a rise in public spending. The Chancellor will need to set out what level of borrowing he will aim for in the longer term, and how quickly he will want to get there. Economists have speculated that it is likely that we will see austerity policies beyond 2019-20.

The policy proposals that we put forward therefore not only focus on the needs of the charity sector and how government can increase their capacity to heal the social divisions brought starkly to light by Brexit, but also on economic Growth and driving innovations in technology. The vast majority of the voluntary‟s sector employees are in 76,627 small and medium sized organisations and we have focused our proposals on those areas where the government can best support these job-creating and capital-creating organisations in every area of the UK. 1) Economic Growth 2) Supporting people to take ownership of their local areas 3) Driving innovation in technology

Economic Growth

As we know, the voluntary and community sector makes a major contribution to the UK economy and wider society. We employ 821,000 people and mobilise 14.2 million regular volunteers which is worth nearly £24 billion each year and we add £12.2bn in Gross Value Added to the UK economy every year. As the UK continues to adapt to the economic environment post-Brexit, it is important that the voluntary sector is seen as an important and valuable economic actor in its own right. The two policies presented to address economic growth are: 1) Reduce irrecoverable VAT for charities - the government should phase in a rebate scheme to enable all charities to reclaim VAT incurred on non-business income over five years and convert existing ‘exemptions’ into ‘zero-ratings’ or ‘options to tax’ so that VAT can be recovered. 2) Introduce a strategic approach to voluntary sector funding to ensure funding for voluntary organisations outside of normal departmental spending is distributed on an impartial basis according to the sector’s strategic needs. This policy was specifically developed in light of the previous iniquitous allocation of Libor fines.

Supporting people to take ownership of their local areas

Britain's vote to leave the EU demonstrates an appetite in communities to have greater control over the decisions that affect them. The voluntary and community sector already work with, by and for the people they support by providing space for communities to come together to address the issues that affect them, and through supporting local authorities in designing and delivering services in their local area. However, more can be done to support people to take a bigger stake in the future quality of life in their local area. There are two key ways in which we think the government can play an important role in this: 1) A Community Capital Fund should be created to provide central support and resources for asset ownership, with a particular emphasis on supporting community asset transfer. This will work to empower communities so that they have a real stake in their local areas and support the delivery of vital services at a time when there is massive pressure on the public purse. 2) Partnership Hubs - these hubs should engender partnerships between local authorities and the local voluntary and community sector in the most deprived areas, with a view to identify and understand needs and solutions in the local community.

Driving innovation in technology

Technology for charities can represent innovative and more effective ways to engage with the people and communities that they support, as well as being essential to the effective running of their organisation. As the UK's economy becomes underpinned by digital infrastructure charities have to keep up with developments - not least so that they can protect themselves from fraud and cyber attacks. The voluntary sector is not immune to the threat of fraud and cyber attacks: fraud cost the sector £1.6 billion in 2016, an increase of 73% since 2013. However, for small charities - in particular those working with 'hard to reach' communities - it is often difficult to find the funds necessary to develop or buy new software and hardware. As such, CFG and the other bodies developed the following two proposals. 1) A Voluntary Sector Technology Fund to support small charities to purchase new software and/or hardware equipment. This would enable charities to fight against fraud, increase their efficiency and potentially develop innovative ways to engage with the people and communities that they support. 2) Connect for Good – a programme to bring together graphic designers, interface designers and project managers, to collaborate with charities on software projects in events around the country with specific focus on reaching deprived communities. The aim of this programme is to create ready-to-use products that charities can use immediately as well as identifying and responding to future issues.

We want to hear from you

If you have any comments on these proposals, or have any ideas for future porgrammes and initiatives that we should put forward to the Chancellor, do let us know in the comments below!

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