The #NeverMoreNeeded coalition, which represents thousands of social change organisations and charities across the UK, has responded to today’s budget announcement by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak.
The coalition’s joint statement reads:
“This government has today made the deliberate choice not to listen to the collective voices of over 1000 civil society organisations who wrote to the Prime Minister and Chancellor asking for emergency support.
“Millions of people and causes served by charities across the country have been the hardest hit, but today the rising tide of need against reduced capacity to meet it has been ignored and the services they rely on remain at risk of disappearing. Far from being ‘fair’ as the Chancellor claimed, this Budget overlooks those hardest hit and left behind.
“To date this Government has made £407bn available to ‘support the jobs and livelihoods of the British people’ and yet just a tiny fraction of that has been used to safeguard tens of thousands of charitable services the British people rely on.
“Once again, charities are left to make the most of schemes designed for businesses such as the Job Retention Scheme which are not able to be used by those who need to scale up delivery to meet demand.
“Right now, a year into this pandemic, the emergency is not over and people are suffering. The government’s ambitions to ‘level up’ and ‘build back better’ will simply not be delivered by its constant focus on business alone as the solution – right now it urgently needs to recognise and support the social sector.”
In the face of coronavirus, charities are #NeverMoreNeeded – for the essential support they provide in crisis and beyond, and how they shape our society for the better.
Launched in spring 2020, the #NeverMoreNeeded campaign has gathered momentum and is spreading the word to policy-makers and the public about the vital roles the charity and voluntary sector play in society.
Through this campaign, charity infrastructure organisations, including CFG, have developed a Five-Point Plan which shows how the Government could provide additional support to the sector during the pandemic.
The original signatories of the open letter to the Prime Minister and Chancellor are:
- Vicky Browning, CEO, Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations
- Caron Bradshaw OBE, CEO, Charity Finance Group
- Robin Osterley, CEO, Charity Retail Association
- Peter Lewis, CEO, Chartered Institute of Fundraising
- Kathy Evans, CEO, Children England
- Debra Allcock Tyler, CEO, Directory of Social Change
- Ali Harris, CEO, Equally Ours
- Judy Robinson, Chair, National Association for Voluntary and Community Action
- Sarah Vibert, Interim CEO, National Council for Voluntary Organisations
- Ndidi Okezie, CEO, UK Youth
- Paul Reddish, CEO, Volunteering Matters
Read CFG's Budget 2021 briefing.
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