- Cymraeg
- English
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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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The Voluntary Sector Scheme Annual Report
February 24, 2009 12:00 AM
By Peter Black in Plenary
By Peter Black in Plenary
Peter Black: I start on the note on which Janice Gregory sat down, which is to acknowledge the work of volunteers across Wales and the important work that the voluntary sector-or the third sector, as it is now commonly known-is doing, not just in terms of providing a focus for many people in the community, but also in helping communities and in delivering vital services on the part of local authorities, health boards and other statutory authorities, making sure that they are delivered in good time and that they are of good value and of a high quality.
I think that we all acknowledge-the lottery issue, in particular, looms over us in this regard-that resources are becoming more and more scarce for the third sector. The huge amount of money being sucked out of Wales in order to fund the Olympic Games is hitting the voluntary sector particularly badly. Many organisations are struggling to maintain their core funding and a number of organisations have had to shelve plans for capital investment. Communities are losing out on funding due to that drain of money towards London for 2012. I know that there is very little that the Assembly Government can do about that, apart from protest, but it is still a pertinent fact and one that needs to be taken into account when we consider how services are delivered across Wales by local authorities and by other authorities funded directly by the Welsh Assembly Government. I hope that the Minister will be able to take cognisance of that. However, it is not just this Minister's responsibility; it is the responsibility of all of Ministers in this Government to make sure that they are aware of the difficulties facing the third sector, and that, where services are being delivered by those organisations, they are able to deal with them.
The issue that I wanted to particularly highlight was the protocol around funding for third sector organisations, particularly the idea that they should have a period of time to deliver what is required of them by that funding. That period of time is normally acknowledged as three years, but in some cases it is as long as five years. I know that the Government is working very hard to ensure that any funding that it puts in place for those organisations is delivered for a three-year period so that we can have some continuity. I also know that the Wales Council for Voluntary Action is doing a lot of important work in this respect.
However, when you look at funding from local government, you will see that there is a mixed picture. Although most local authorities are delivering in accordance with those protocols, there are always examples of where third sector organisations are missing out because funding is not available on that basis, or because funding is being cut back. I suppose that that is inevitable given that local authorities are under severe budgetary pressure, but we need to work much more closely with local councils to ensure that their protocols are robust and that, where they are funding third sector organisations, they follow the protocol to the best of their ability. In particular, where they have commissioned third sector organisations to deliver services, they should do so on a fair, equitable and consistent basis across Wales. That is not to say that I am inviting the Minister to interfere in the way in which local authorities conduct their work, but it is a dialogue that needs to continue if we are to achieve a level playing field for all third sector organisations across Wales.
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