Equality and Diversity Forum response to Cabinet Office consultation – Supporting a Stronger Civil Society

  1. The Equality and Diversity Forum (EDF) is pleased to have this opportunity to comment on the Office for Civil Society’s proposals for improving support for front-line civil society organisations. EDF is the network of national NGOs working on equality and human rights in England.EDF unites major national NGOs tackling discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation (such as Age UK and Stonewall) together with leading human rights organisations and national advice federations, such as Citizens Advice. The network works closely with the Government Equalities Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.Collectively the members of EDF represent major and long-standing contributors to civil society and we have a strong commitment to its good health and well being.
  1. One of EDF’s strategic goals is to build the capability of the voluntary and community sector (VCS) to advance equality and human rights.Currently EDF does this through its web-based resource bank, a fortnightly e-newsletter with around 4,000 subscribers and a programme of events and publications but we are looking to identify new ways in which we can help to support other VCS organisations.We would be delighted to discuss our ideas in more detail with the OCS.

Context and Principles of Reform

  1. Equality and diversity are central to the VCS sector: more than half of the beneficiary groups listed in table 2 of the consultation document are groups with whom EDF members work directly.Organisations supporting some equality groups (such as people with mental health needs and learning difficulties and people from BAME communities) make more use of existing support than average but organisations supporting other equality groups (such as women and older people) benefit less than average from existing support[1].
  1. EDF welcomes the commitment of the OCS to get more resources into the sector, to make it easier for the sector to work with the state and to make it easier it set up VCS organisations.These are important goals that will make a real difference if they can be achieved.We also welcome the renewed Compact and will work to support and promote it through EDF’s representation on the Board of Compact Voice.
  1. We agree with the OCS that the current environment is challenging and the funding climate is tough.We also agree that more can be done to help VCS organisations develop their skills and governance.However, we share the concern of many in the sector that the difficult funding environment, in particular the sharp

Equality and Diversity Forum, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9UZ

Tel: 020-7843 1597, email , website

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drop in local public sector funding at a time of increased demands, means the Government’s laudable objectives of a larger and more active civil society will be difficult to achieve, at least in the short to medium term.Whatever else is done to improve support for front-line organisations, it cannot substitute for sustainable funding. We urge the Government to be transparent about how reductions in public spending at national and local level are affecting what non governmental organisation can achieve on the ground.

  1. We note the OCS funding principles set out on p7 of the consultation document and support the thinking behind some of the principles.We welcome the recognition of the importance of support being accessible to a diverse range of organisations.We also recognise the value for VCS organisations in having diverse sources of funding. However, we think it is important to recognise that many VCS organisations receive state funding because they have contracts to deliver services on behalf of the public sector.These organisations are no more dependent on state funding than private sector firms that have public contracts. We question therefore whether it is appropriate to frame the goal of central investment in terms of reducing long term dependence on the state without making this distinction.We also question whether it is appropriate to assume, as this goal could be seen to do, that there is something inherently inappropriate in public sector grant funding of the VCS.

Potential Priorities for Action

Improving online services for front-line groups – question one

  1. We recognise that it is essential that good quality support resources exist and that organisations are aware of them and of how to use them.[2]Online resources are an essential source of support and we agree that there could be benefit in OCS playing a role in marshalling what is available and highlighting its potential relevance to VCS organisations.OCS might also encourage regulators such as Companies House to improve the user-friendliness of their websites.
  1. One of the biggest obstacles to VCS organisations using existing online support resources is lack of awareness of what is available and bridging this awareness gap is not something that Government can do alone.Even if OCS were able to have a web-based portal with well-organised links to all the main sites containing useful resources, this would add little value unless VCS organisations used the facility.Organisations like EDF are able to help.We have an expanding directory of contacts in our sector, currently around 4,000, and we send them a fortnightly e-newsletter that includes information about useful resources.We know from user surveys that our e-newsletter is a trusted and valued source of information and we would be happy to work with OCS to see how it might be used to help raise awareness of online support resources amongst equalities and human rights VCS organisations.
  1. Although online resources are valuable, it is essential to bear in mind that some small organisations, particularly those made up of people from marginalised or excluded communities, are less likely to have access to them and alternative forms of support may be needed for these groups.Online resources also cannot readily

Equality and Diversity Forum, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9UZ

Tel: 020-7843 1597, email , website

Registered charity number 1135357 Registered company number 06464749

provide some forms of support (such as skills training) and that some support needs relate to locally generated information rather than national information.

  1. OCS could usefully play a role, in conjunction with the Office for Disability Issues, in ensuring that the main web-based resources used by or intended for VCS organisations are on accessible websites.Inaccessible web-based services and functions can be a major barrier to disabled people’s participation and this affects all VCS organisations with disabled staff or volunteers, not just organisations working on disability issues.

Accessing wider sources of support – questions two and three

  1. We agree that there is untapped potential for skills transfers between VCS organisations and other sectors, as well as between VCS organisations.[3]Again, awareness of opportunities is essential and umbrella organisations with well-established communication channels, such as EDF, can help OCS with this.
  1. For skills transfers to work, there needs to be a degree of ethical ‘fit’ between the organisations that are working together: an equalities VCS organisation is unlikely to benefit from working with a private or public organisation that has a poor record on equality and diversity, for example, and the benefits of employer-supported volunteering likewise depend on volunteers feeling some support for the aims of the organisation with which they are working.This is another area where EDF may be able to help OCS by, for example, helping to identify organisations with a strong track record on equality and diversity who might be matched with equalities VCS organisations needing skilled volunteers.
  1. In facilitating skills transfer and other sources of support, it is important to recognise that some VCS organisations will inevitably find it more difficult to attract interest and support than others. This will depend in part on the capacity and expertise of the organisation but also on the public image of the ‘cause’ in question. Just as some charities find it easier to attract support than others, equally, private sector organisations engaging with the VCS are likely to find some issues appealing while others, including some equalities issues, are neglected because they are seen as risky or complicated. OCS will need to consider ways of addressing this problem.
  1. Successful employer-supported volunteering also requires good volunteer management and some VCS organisations may need help with this, particularly if they have not worked with volunteers, or volunteers with specialist skills, before.It is easy for small organisations to feel that the work involved in setting up a volunteer placement and inducting a volunteers is too much to take on, even when they know that in the long term the placement is likely to benefit them.

Consolidation of infrastructure – question seven

  1. We recognise that there may be a case for consolidation of infrastructure and that this may not happen without support for the up-front costs of change.It is important that the criteria for support should seek to ensure new arrangements are

Equality and Diversity Forum, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9UZ

Tel: 020-7843 1597, email , website

Registered charity number 1135357 Registered company number 06464749

sustainable in the long-term, given the substantial threat to the existence of support organisations posed by public spending reductions.

  1. One of the risks of consolidation is that specialist provision to support equalities VCS organisations will be lost.We recognise that it is not essential for all support for equalities organisations to be provided by specialist equalities infrastructure organisations[4], and believe that mainstream support organisations should provide services that are appropriate and accessible to equalities organisations.However, equalities groups cannot always get all the support they need from mainstream infrastructure organisations and some, particularly those representing the most marginalised groups such as transgender people, may not approach mainstream providers because they lack confidence that they will be treated appropriately.We therefore suggest two principles that should be used in relation to consolidation:
  • Explicit recognition that specialist infrastructure support is legitimate and can sometimes be the most effective way of meeting some of the support needs of some groups
  • Public funding for mainstream infrastructure organisations should be conditional on organisations being able to demonstrate that they provide accessible services and that they have the skills and capacities to support the full range of equalities groups

Equality and Diversity Forum

5 January 2011

Equality and Diversity Forum, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9UZ

Tel: 020-7843 1597, email , website

Registered charity number 1135357 Registered company number 06464749

[1] We cannot agree with the comment in annex A of the consultation document that organisations supporting equalities groups were much more likely to use support than others as the figures in table 2 show organisations supporting equalities groups right across the spectrum.

[2]EDF’s recent report ‘Workplace equality – turning policy into practice’ concluded that progress would be speeded up more by raising awareness of existing guidance than by producing additional guidance.

[3] Public and private sector organisations have much to learn from VCS organisations, as well as the other way round.

[4]Identity and infrastructure: supporting groups that work in the areas of ethnicity and sexual orientation Big Lottery Fund, 2010