Jane Ide OBE HonDUniv has captured the concerns that so many of us in the third sector are facing perfectly.
Our network of specialist and community-based Rape Crisis centres have been struggling with acute and chronic underfunding for decades. Austerity, Covid, the economic crisis and being asked to do much much more with much much less isn’t fair and isn’t sustainable.
The Civil Society Covenant talks about collaboration with the third sector. For that to be meaningful there has to be respect, equity and investment in our sector. This requires open and ongoing dialogue with sector leaders which recognises their invaluable contribution to the lives of women and girls, and to ending rape and sexual abuse.
We welcome the government’s commitment to halving violence against women and girls in a decade and between us, there is immense will and skill and commitment to helping to achieve that, but we cannot even contemplate taking a seat at the table unless we know we can keep our doors open and our lights on.
Jane Ide OBE HonDUniv's statement:
“The Chancellor spoke today about the difficult choices she’s made in order to stimulate growth, and we welcome announcements about increased funding for the NHS, education and housing which we know many in our sector have called for.
However, we are deeply concerned about the impact the triple whammy increase in employers’ national insurance contributions, reduction of the threshold at which employers need to pay and increase in the national living wage will have on civil society organisations and the work they deliver. Civil society leaders have very limited choices to make in how to manage these significant increases in operating costs. The harsh reality is that many organizations may be forced to reduce staff, cut salaries, and, most importantly, scale back services for the very people they strive to support.
If civil society is to partner with government in delivering the decade of national renewal, as the Prime Minister invited us to, it is important that civil society is strong and able to play its part and yet the changes announced today will affect the resilience of civil society and its vital role as a trusted partner in helping the government achieve its vision. We very much value the commitments from the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State, Lisa Nandy, to collaborate with the sector through the Civil Society Covenant and are engaging with government officials to discuss the ramifications of these announcements.”