13 February 2004
The head of the consortium that will manage the government's £125m fund to help charities be more effective in public service delivery hopes to use some of the money to test the viability of long-term contracts or – 'Sure Funding' – for the voluntary sector.
Richard Gutch, chief executive of the newly established futurebuilders consortium, told Public Finance that, once up and running, the organisation hoped to work with charities to take the idea forward.
'We're going to be investing in a limited number of organisations and we could use that as a negotiating incentive to encourage a purchaser to opt for a long-term contract,' he said. 'But we wouldn't be able to pilot [Sure Funding] until we find a purchaser.'
Nothing is likely to happen in the short term. Negotiations with the Home Office over the so-called 'futurebuilders' contract are unlikely to be concluded before the end of March and the consortium is not expected to open for business for a further three months, Gutch said.
Sure Funding is a concept proposed by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo). It would allow charities to compete fairly with the private sector by letting them provide services over a 25-year period, rather than having to renegotiate year-on-year.
Acevo has also received an assurance from the Treasury that its Sure Funding proposals will be fed into the ongoing review of voluntary sector participation, which forms part of this year's Spending Review process.
This little-publicised review will focus on ways in which central and local government can engage better with the voluntary sector across five key areas: health and social care; children and families; housing and homelessness; education and employment; and crime and social cohesion.
It marks the Treasury's second examination of the role of the voluntary sector in as many years. The 'cross-cutting' review of 2002, led by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Paul Boateng, led to the creation of the 'futurebuilders' fund.
Nick Aldridge, policy and communications officer at Acevo, told PF that Treasury input to the Sure Funding programme was 'hugely valuable'.
'There's no point coming up with funding models that government could never accept,' he said. 'By working with government to develop a more efficient funding relationship with charities, we can target resources more effectively at improving outcomes for service users.'
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