Charities fear Spending Review will hurt poorest most

9 Sep 10
Charity bosses have told the chancellor they fear cuts announced in next month's Spending Review will hit the poorest hardest

By David Williams

9 September 2010

Charity bosses have told the chancellor they fear cuts announced in next month’s Spending Review will hit the poorest hardest.

A letter signed yesterday by 370 members of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations reminds the coalition government of its commitment to fairness, and the need to protect the most vulnerable people from spending cuts.

‘Our fear is that without that commitment being at the heart of your decision-making on public spending, we will slip unintentionally into cuts that hit the most vulnerable hardest,’ the letter says.

‘Already many of us are starting to see such cuts on the ground at local level. If this tendency is not checked urgently, we fear the government will fail in its aim to ensure that “those most in need are protected”.’

The charity leaders, who include representatives of Age UK, the Citizens Advice Bureau, Mind, Scope, and The Children’s Society, say the most needy people can be protected in a time of fiscal restraint. To do this, they say, the Treasury must set up a Fairness Panel of third sector leaders to scrutinise the final stages of the Comprehensive Spending Review, due to be published on October 20. The group would aim to safeguard fairness and ensure that the most vulnerable people are always at the heart of the decisions on spending cuts.

The comments follow concernexpressed by Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb that the government’s Big Society strategy, which envisages greater third sector provision ofpublic services, could be undermined by spending cuts.

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