![[ad] Blackbaud 2025 Giving Days calendar - download](http://fundraising.co.uk.temp.link/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/blackbaud-charity-calendar-V2-2025_728z90.png)
Charity leaders write to Chancellor with sector asks ahead of next Spending Review
Melanie May | 21 January 2025 | News
The Civil Society Group – a collaboration of organisations representing members and groups from across the charity sector and wider civil society – has written to the Chancellor with 16 recommendations for Labour’s second major fiscal event, which takes place in June.
The letter, written by Charity Finance Group (CFG) and signed by 22 charity leaders, including the CEOs of NAVCA, ACF, ACEVO, NCVO, SCVO, WCVA and CIOF, urges the government to acknowledge charities’ role in its mission areas and provide sustainable sector funding.
It calls on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to consider several measures that the group believes could be implemented in the near-term and are both low-cost and impactful.
Advertisement
These include:
- Providing match-funding for places or causes crucial to the government’s mission delivery, to show commitment and attract philanthropic investment.
- Appointing a dedicated philanthropy champion in government to help drive a national conversation on giving.
- Reinstating mandatory reporting of corporate charitable giving to encourage companies to increase their contributions to the voluntary sector.
- Instructing the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to use its powers to incorporate philanthropy into continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and the curricula of industry qualifications.
- The group has also called on the Chancellor to adequately fund the Charity Commission for England and Wales, whilst urging the devolved authorities to extend similar support to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI).
The letter states: ‘in a time of constrained public finances, the voluntary and community sector’s contribution to the government’s missions can be significant. We want to be a part of the widespread societal change that the missions can deliver.’
The group has also included longer-term proposals, such as:
- Moving to a more sustainable funding model, to bring greater stability to local councils, and the voluntary and community sector working in partnership with them
- Invest in simplifying and streamlining Gift Aid processes, helping to unlock the Gift Aid that goes unclaimed each year
- Providing match-funding for specific places or causes that will contribute significantly to the delivery of its missions
Richard Sagar, Head of Policy at CFG, commented:
“This spending review submission is an opportunity to highlight the contribution civil society makes to communities across the country, and to the government’s missions.
“Whilst the Chancellor has been clear that the government wants to maintain its fiscal rules, our recommendations could be implemented for little cost, yet could allow charities to maximise their impact.
“The sector continues to face increasing demand for services, whilst managing lower incomes and increased costs – forcing charities to do more with less.
“By offering support for the sector, which delivers around £17bn worth of public services, the government can maximise the positive impact charities can have on the people and causes they serve.”
Related posts
Allia offers social impact bond to support vulnerable children
£25m Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund to offer repayable finance to Covid-19 hit organisations
Friends Provident Foundation triples its impact investment allocation
Fintech for good startup to scale up after securing £1mn in funding round
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.