NAVCA and Locality have sent a budget submission to the Chancellor, George Osborne MP. They make the case for a fund that will help micro social enterprise and local charities generate growth in the poorest areas. The submission calls for a fund of £150 million to provide £3 million growth funding to the 50 most deprived areas in England.
In particular it says:
We call upon the government to make available targeted funding of £150 million – just £3 million for each area over three years – for social investment in the fifty most deprived local authority areas, unlocking local resources and assets, boosting community initiatives, generating employment, and stimulating ‘self-renovating neighbourhoods’, and leveraging further investment by establishing neighbourhood bonds.
While this funding should be targeted towards the most deprived areas, there must be a focus on neighbourhoods where a there is a 'coalition of the willing' or where local voluntary and community infrastructure organisations have a clear plan for developing such a coalition.
The submission notes that for the first time since the 1960s, there is no national government regeneration programme for the areas of greatest deprivation. It also shows that public sector funding cuts since 2010 have hit the poorest areas hardest and, using research from NAVCA, shows that service cuts are accompanied by an increased demand for services that local charities are struggling to meet.
The fund would create growth by enabling local and neighbourhood community organisations and social enterprises to scale up their operations. This would create jobs and generate profits to be reinvested locally. It would support the creation of community or neighbourhood bonds to encourage social investment. This is a low-cost way of injecting resources into wealth creating social organisations in the most deprived communities and helping people who are furthest from the labour market. It could save the exchequer money because the work of community organisations and social enterprises often involves intervening early to solve future problems.
Steve Wyler, Chief Executive of Locality, said;
“In neighbourhoods across the country there are many hundreds of community organisations with a can-do entrepreneurial attitude capable of acting as drivers for growth from the bottom up. An injection of social investment would be a much needed shot in the arm - stimulating ‘people power’ to bring untapped resources into productive use, stimulating economic activity and mobilising a coalition of the willing to turn round struggling communities. “
Joe Irvin, Chief Executive of NAVCA, said;
“'The Chancellor could help boost jobs and revive the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, through charities and social enterprise. As well as supporting the poorest communities, local charities, community groups and social enterprises bring money in to these areas. And because their work is locally focussed, the money’s spent locally. This increases the local multiplier effect of any investment, meaning a small investment in these organisations is one of the quickest and most cost effective ways of helping the most deprived parts of our country.”
Read the full budget proposal.