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Review of Funding in the Voluntary Sector |
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Introductory Statement SPPA is the national voluntary intermediary agency supporting over 1500 pre-school groups for over 42,000 children under five years of age, the majority of which are in the voluntary sector. Each member group is autonomous and provides sessional day care and/or pre-school education for children within local communities, throughout each of the thirty two Local Authorities in Scotland. SPPA receives core funding from the Scottish Executive via Section 10 funding and therefore welcomes the opportunity to contribute a response to this consultation on Voluntary Sector Funding and welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this important review. Scope of New Fund As one of the largest national voluntary organisations to receive Section 10 funding solely for headquarter costs, SPPA would be extremely interested to learn more about the additional scope for funding new and innovative projects. Currently SPPA finds it very difficult to identify and secure additional funding for project working and holds the view that if such funds became available, we would be able to diversify our services to the direct benefit of our member groups and the children in them. Benefits of Rationalisation SPPA welcomes any proposal that is aimed at reducing bureaucracy and that balances resources across the sector. We further welcome the suggestion to simplify the application process, as this has become a more complex system in recent years. While we would support the proposal to establish a set of common objectives for children, we would wish to be consulted on and involved in the identification and agreement of those common objectives. SPPA wholly supports the need to provide services for those children and their families who are adversely affected by specific issues of health, poverty etc. but would wish to stress the vital importance of continued support of mainstream services that require continual development and therefore investment. Scope of Fund: Key Principles SPPA like many other large voluntary childcare organisations in Scotland, view staff capacity as an issue that requires urgent attention. SPPA would therefore welcome a more proactive approach from the Scottish Executive in stimulating interest in the creation of innovative projects as capacity within the sector to research and develop such experimental services is limited. Objectives The proposed objectives do seem right. However, as previously mentioned, SPPA is concerned that by bringing together the existing funding schemes to support the work of voluntary organisations, and by identifying such objectives, the danger is that unless a child falls within a specific category, they are not considered a priority. We would therefore suggest that the last bullet point be amended to reflect this crucial point.
SPPA would propose that the voluntary sector must be involved in the assessment process and that the nominee must have a current knowledge of the childcare sector and of the individual organisations’ involvement and contribution in/to it. The avoidance of potential conflict could be addressed in the same way as previous involvement in the Changing Children’s Services Fund. Should contact be required with SPPA in
regard to this formal response, please find the relevant contact persons
details below. Mr. Robert D. Walters |
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