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Welfare Reform: What are the key concerns and challenges for the voluntary sector?

Welfare Reform: What are the key concerns and challenges for the voluntary sector?. Anjelica Finneg a n. Presentation Overview. 2 key concerns and challenges: 1) Increased demand on services (a) number of service users/clients (b) changes in the type of services/support needed

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Welfare Reform: What are the key concerns and challenges for the voluntary sector?

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  1. Welfare Reform: What are the key concerns and challenges for the voluntary sector? Anjelica Finnegan

  2. Presentation Overview • 2 key concerns and challenges: • 1) Increased demand on services • (a) number of service users/clients • (b) changes in the type of services/support needed • 2) Financial challenges for voluntary organisations • How can organisations respond? • Case Study: Southampton Advice Service Alliance

  3. Summary of welfare reforms • 1% up-rating • Child Benefit • Council Tax Benefit • Disability Living Allowance • Household benefit cap • Housing Benefit: Local Housing Allowance • Housing Benefit: Under-occupation (‘bedroom tax’) • Incapacity benefits • Non-dependant deductions • Tax Credits

  4. Increased demand: the number of service users/clients • Key point: welfare reforms hit the most disadvantaged hardest. • Welfare reforms – once they take effect – will remove £18.87billion/yrfrom economy. • = £470/yrfor every working age adult. • Biggest financial losses arise from reforms to incapacity benefit(£4.3bn/yr); changes toTax Credits (£3.6bn/yr); 1% up-rating of (i.e. a real-term cut in) most working-age benefits (£3.4bn/yr). • Financial impact of the reforms varies greatly across the country. Blackpool is the worst hit with an estimated £900/year loss for every working age adult. Beatty and Fothergill, 2013 • 82% (up from 16% from 2012) has seen an increased demand in services (London Voluntary Service Council, 2013).

  5. Source: Beatty & Fothergill, 2013

  6. Changes in the type of services/support needed • ‘Cumulative impact’. Confusion & Fear + Reductions in legal aid & advice services = people falling between the gap. • People will therefore need crisis support. • In addition to crisis support – changes to welfare reform is likely to also impact people’s health, relationships, stress, family network etc.

  7. Funding challenges: the organisations • Key point: evidence suggests that voluntary organisations in the most deprived areas will be hardest hit by funding cuts. • higher proportion of voluntary sector organisations in deprived areas receive at least some of their income from the state. • Same pattern for voluntary organisations who cite state funding as their most important source of income. • Most deprived local authorities have had bigger reduction %’age wise. Clifford et.al, 2013 • 46% - not confident that they will be able to meet an increase in demand for their services (London Voluntary Service Council, 2013).

  8. How Can the Voluntary Sector Respond? • Examples of ways in which organisations could adapt • Increase number of volunteers • Merge with another organisation • Improve use of technology • Increase collaboration with the private sector • “Charities need to rise above their individual silos, to work with each other and with government if they want to achieve change” – Sir Stuart Etherington (April 2013) • SASA case study

  9. Sources • Beatty, C and Fothergill, S. (2013). Hitting the poorest places hardest: The local and regional impact of welfare reform. Sheffield: Centre for Regional Economic and Social Researcher, Sheffield Hallam University. Available at: http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/cresr/sites/shu.ac.uk/files/hitting-poorest-places-hardest_0.pdf [Accessed: 10.11.13] • Civil Society. (2013). Sir Stuart: NCVO will fight attacks against campaigning. Available at: http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/14732/sir_stuart_ncvo_will_fight_attacks_against_campaigning?topic=&print=1. [Accessed on 10.11.2013] • Clifford, D. (2013). Variations between Organisations and Localities in Government Funding of Third-sector Activity: Evidence from the National Survey of Third-sector Organisations in England • Kane, D & Allen, J. (2011). Counting the Cuts: The impact of spending cuts on the UK voluntary and community sector. London: NCVO • Kane, D. Bass, P. Heywood, J. Jochum, V and Wilding, K. (2013). NCVO UK Civil Society Almanac. Available at: http://data.ncvo.org.uk/category/almanac/ . [Accessed: 10.11.2013] • London Voluntary Service Council. (2013). The Big Squeeze 2013: A fragile state. Available at: http://www.lvsc.org.uk/research-policy/big-squeeze.aspx. [Accessed: 10.11.2013] • Macmillan, R. Taylor, R. Arvidson, M. Soteri-Proctor, A & Teasdale, S. (2013). The third sector in unsettled times: a field guide. Third Sector Research Centre working paper series no. 109. Birmingham: TSRC. Available at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/tsrc/documents/tsrc/working-papers/working-paper-109.pdf [Accessed: 10.11.13] • Rimmer, A (2013). More Transparency needed in charity campaigning, panel is told. Third Sector Magazine. Available at: http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Communications/article/1185975/more-transparency-needed-charity-campaigning-panel-told/ [Accessed on: 10.11.2013]

  10. Thank you for listening

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