The voluntary sector cuts risk undermining the very idea of the Big Society, as reduced services will affect London poorest areas and its most vulnerable communities. Gary Buswell reports
Following the heavy cuts in spending to the public sector back in the spring, the government’s axe has now fallen on the very sector we were led to believe would be picking up the slack as the state rolled itself back: the third sector consisting of voluntary and community organisations that make up the so-called Big Society.
Research published by False Economy has shown that over 2,000 charity groups in England have had government funding slashed, with many losing the full 100 per cent of their funding. A hefty 110 million has been sliced from the voluntary sector budget. With data still to be collected from several local councils, the final figure will be even higher.These cuts shed some light on the government’s commitment to t he “Big Society”. When the plan to reduce public spending was announced, David Cameron deflected a lot of the negative press by highlighting the role of charities and volunteering in filling the gap in service provision. But a study by London-based LVSC found that 51 per centof voluntary organizations in the capital have had to close services in the past year despite increasing demand. Furthermore, although demand for volunteering has increased, the capacity to support volunteers has decreased.
Worryingly, both these studies suggest that, as with the public sector cuts, the reduction in funding and services are disproportionately affecting poorer areas.In London, boroughs such as Hackney, Bromley and Waltham Forest have each lost millions in funding. Among those hit are numerous small refugee and migrant groups along with organisations supporting volunteering.
However, it is charities supporting children and young people who have been the most affected.
One such charity is The Crib, an organisation based in Hackney that works with 11-24 year olds who are NEET (not in education, employment or training) or at risk of offending.
The Crib offers support and advice to young people and runs projects aimed at raising their ambitions and building relationships between them and their communities. They work closely with local police, schools and elderly community groups.Third sector cuts have meant that the organisation has lost 75 per cent of its public funding, equating to over 200,000 pounds a year.Project manager Janette Collins says that they have yet to secure alternative funding despite facing rising demand for services.
“We are constantly asked to help out in high anti-social behaviour areas” she said. “We used to run three youth clubs in areas of high gang violence but due to cutbacks we’ve gone from working with 200-plus young people a quarter to working with 16”.
It’s not hard to see how all this intensifies the general impact of the cuts. Back in March I wrote how the spending cuts were likely to increase poverty, unemployment and crime. Poverty figures are unlikely to be available for a while, but latest unemployment figures show a rise of 38,000 unemployed between March and June this year. Unemployment stands at nearly 8 per cent. The number of males aged 16-24 unemployed is around one in four, and a study by the Institute of Public Policy Research suggests that nearly 50 per cent of black British 16-24 year-old males are out of work.
Another study funded by O2 found that a quarter of 16-24 year-olds are depressed about their employment prospects. Then, in August, we had the riots. Now, one must be mindful of making over-simplistic assumptions about the complex causes of these events. To say they were determined by the cuts would be foolish, but Cameron’s attempts to blame them on simple “criminality” is equally so. They cannot be seen in isolation from the reduction of public and third sector youth services and the impact this is having.
Collins’ organisation works in one of the boroughs most affected by the riots. “The reoffending rate with our young people has risen. Young people feel like there is no hope” she says. “We had to close one of our centres that housed 64 young people every Friday night. Young people engaged in cooking, music and fashion workshops. We also delivered family support and CV writing. Young people feel let down by the council and are unable to understand the reasons for the cuts”. Another organisation affected is The Peace Alliance, a multi-agency organisation consisting of faith groups, community leaders and the police working to reduce crime and promote cohesion in Tottenham, Haringey. Haringey is one of the most diverse boroughs in London. It is also facing some of the most severe public sector cuts. It has the highest unemployment rate in London. 75 per cent of the youth service budget was recently cut and 8 out of the borough’s 13 youth centres were shut down. Tottenham was the area where the recent rioting first broke out. The Peace Alliance is facing a reduction of 63 per cent of public funding and has yet to find alternative financial means.
According to Reverend Nims Obunge, Chief Executive of the Alliance, the organisation is working flat out and is struggling to rebuild community relations in the aftermath of the riots.
“Of course we have had to reduce our services, like many other organisations in a similar situation. But it’s no use complaining about what’s happened and how difficult things are. We must remain strong. I have faith in the goodwill of volunteers in this community”.
The government has defended its actions by stating that charities must become less dependent on state funding and seek out other alternatives. But where? Funders such as trusts and the national lottery are already heavily over-subscribed and to make up the deficit there would need to be 6.6 million new private donors, or existing donors would need to give an extra 32 pounds each. Interestingly, the government has just announced a new Transforming Local Infrastructure model for charities. This promotes a social enterprise approach, encouraging streamlining and merging among organisations.
So perhaps the ultimate legacy of Cameron’s Big Society will be that charities end up behaving more like private businesses.
