Voluntary Sector unites to demand fair funding

A broad coalition of voluntary organisations and unions have launched a petition calling for fair funding where Scottish public service contracts are undertaken by the voluntary sector.

The petition - jointly submitted by the STUC, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), Unite, UNISON and Community Care Providers Scotland urges the Scottish Government to demonstrate commitment to the third sector by agreeing a National Framework for Public Service Contracts between the government, purchasers and providers.

This is the first time voluntary sector employers and trade unions have joined together to campaign, demonstrating the danger posed by current funding challenges.

Simon Macfarlane, UNISON's Lead Officer for the Community & Voluntary Sector said; "We hope there will be a massive response to this petition as our members in the sector are really suffering as a consequence of skewed tendering processes and real term funding cuts.

"Pay and conditions in the voluntary sector were already well below the public sector, but the latest funding crisis means there is increased downward pressure on pay.

"Our members look after the most vulnerable with compassion, dignity and respect. They deserve to be valued not caught up in a spiral to the bottom with the services they provide being shunted from one provider to the next based on who can provide the service cheapest."

Some voluntary organisations are being contracted to perform public services for less than those services cost to deliver.

Stephen Maxwell, Associate Director of SCVO said, "The voluntary sector's front line workers are crucial to the sector's capacity to provide high quality personalised services to Scotland''s 'at risk' citizens.

"Their contribution to essential public services deserves to be rewarded at the same level as their front-line colleagues in the public sector."

Jackson Cullinane Deputy Scottish Secretary for UNITE said, "We are committed to exposing the shameful funding cuts being carried out by local authorities where low paid workers, who are contracted to deliver key public services, are being expected to literally subsidise the state by sustaining cuts to their pay and conditions."

The petition urges the Scottish Government to agree a National Framework for Public Service Contracts, based on a 2007 pact between the submitting organisations.

It covers:

* A commitment by public sector purchasers to fund wages and conditions for front line workers in third sector providers at the same level as the public sector

* Five year contracts to replace current short term funding.

* Agreement on the appropriate use of competitive tendering to minimise disruption to the users of services, reduce transaction costs and increase the stability of jobs and services

* A government initiative to improve the standard of public sector commissioning to achieve the government's aim of high quality personalised services

* Fresh Best Value Guidance to strengthen the importance of quality and effectiveness proportionate to cost; defining quality, how to measure it, and the role of service users, families, unions and the wider community in monitoring and assessment.

The voluntary sector in Scotland is worth just under £3.9bn and research by SCVO has found that the sector employs an estimated 129,000 professional paid staff, more than employment in Financial Services, and the Electricity, Gas & Water Supply industries.

headlines . top