Charities need to force their way into discussions about local government powers, rather than waiting to be invited, sector experts said yesterday.
Speaking at meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Charities and Volunteering, convened by NCVO, representatives from Vonne, Locality, Hackney CVS and Involve said that charities need to make sure that they had a seat at the table in discussions about devolution of powers to a local level.
Earlier this month NCVO published a report which warned that the voluntary sector had not been sufficiently involved in devolution deals.
Ruth Beidenbach-Roe, policy officer at Locality, said there was a “risk that the opportunity is being missed” in many areas and said this is why Locality is setting up a commission about the future of localism, which will be chaired by Bob Kerslake.
She suggested that central government should do more to make sure that devolution deals had included meaningful engagement with the voluntary sector before the Treasury signed them off.
Jane Harley, chief executive of Vonne, an umbrella body for charities in the north east of England, said that it had been a mixed picture so far.
She said while in some cases the voluntary sector was “coming to the table later than we would wish,” it is important to be part of discussions.
Harley also criticised the Social Value Act, which she said “doesn’t seem to be going well” because “there doesn’t seem to have been a consistent approach”.
The minister recently announced a review of the Act.
‘Support sector representatives’
Rebecca Clarkson, director of City and Hackney Together – Hackney CVS’s bidding consortium – said that it was important to provide representatives with the right support.
“Rather than waiting we need to be in there and be part of that discussion,” she said.
She added that it is not just about having a seat on various boards but making sure that you ”train people to be a good representatives”.
‘Culture change’
Sarah Allan, engagement lead at Involve – a public participation charity – said that it is important to engage the wider public “and not just CVS organisations” but said that more time was needed.
“It is entirely possible to do really good public engagement, but the timetable in the devolution process has made it impossible,” she said.
She described the whole process as a “culture change” for everyone involved.
Breidenbach-Roe said that focusing more on “co-production” with local authorities, was a key part of this.
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