Background
In line with our commitment to the Department’s five-year strategy- ‘Building Inclusive Communities’, the Department is committed to incentivise, support, and enhance community empowerment through an innovative and sustainable voluntary and community sector.
Voluntary and community organisations also have legal obligations under charity law and other legislation with which they must comply. For example, charities are required to register and provide annual reports and accounts to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (the Commission). Wider voluntary and community organisations will have obligations regarding governance requirements for their independent governing boards; safeguarding; or the management of their volunteers.
Purpose and objectives
The programme of work established through the Voluntary and Community Sector Support Programme’s core purpose is:
This will be met through the achievements of the following –
Objectives
- develop a framework of outcomes for our support to the voluntary and community sector, supported by new and progressive commissioning arrangements, based on fair and enabling funding principles and a move to longer-term funding creating stability in the Sector.
- improve charity regulation for charities and their beneficiaries, through supporting a change in culture and a more enabling, collaborative, and proportionate approach by the Commission.
The Department is committed as part of the process to engaging with a wide range of organisations in the Sector, including those supported through our existing funding programmes as well as those that are not.
Drivers for change
Current arrangements that underpin voluntary and community sector support are a complex evolution, many of which have been in operation for several years.
The Programme aims to design future support arrangements that reflect the changing needs in the Sector, with revised policy frameworks and delivery models that reflect key priority needs, comply with government accountability requirements, and support fair funding requirements, enabling the Sector to deliver outcomes in a post Covid context.
The refresh will also draw on recommendations from previous evaluation work, including the review of the Regional Infrastructure Support Programme (RISP) in 2015/16 and the more recent Strategic Investment Board work in relation to Advice.
The Department is also implementing the agreed response to the Independent Review of Charity Regulation, published on 20 January 2022. This includes the introduction of a £20k threshold below which charities would not be required to register with the Commission or provide an annual report and accounts to them. The implementation of those recommendations set out in the Report will have a fundamental impact on charity regulation. Further information on the review and the Department’s response is available.
Voluntary and community sector support - in collaboration
To assist in the development of refreshed policy frameworks, we are engaging with and bringing together people from a wide range of organisations, drawing on collective experiences, understanding key priorities, listening to ideas and opinions and to add voice and input to help us to shape future programmes for whom the refresh will deliver.
We have adopted an inclusive engagement approach bringing together Voluntary and Community sectoral representatives from both urban and rural locations, including those supported through existing funding programmes as well as those that are not. We are continuing to engage with other funders of infrastructure support to the Sector, including other Government Departments, Councils, and independent funders.
Our engagement approach involves a range of methods to inform the shape and design of new policy and funding frameworks.
We are also working closely with the Commission’s stakeholder forum to hear their ideas and input to design. Key sectoral representatives will be included in all working groups established to take forward legislation and other complex recommendations falling out of the response to the Review. Regular strategic workshops including members of the sector, the Commission and the Department will feed into this work.
High level timeline
Implementation of the Independent Review of Charity Regulation in NI
A five-year action plan will be published soon, showing how the Department intends to take forward the recommendations that fall to the Department.
Plans for year one include a 12 week consultation on a prospective Scheme of Delegation for decisions of the Commission, which launched on 20 March 2023 and closed on 12 June 2023.
A working group has also been established to take forward the introduction of a £20k registration threshold, below which charities would not be required to register with the Commission - a consultation on the registration threshold is due to commence before 31 March 2024.
The Commission’s three year Strategic and annual Business Plans will set out how the Commission will take forward the recommendations that fall to them. More information can be found on the Commission’s website.
A refreshed policy framework and new commissioning and funding approach for all programmes of spend
The indicative timeline. whilst not definitive, is expected to consist of four key stages as below:
Stage 1 – Evidence Gathering and Design (Feb – August 2023)
Stage 2 – Consultation on policy frameworks (Sept – Dec 2023)
Stage 3 – Design and Commissioning (Jan – Jun 2024)
Stage 4 – Implementation and transition (Jul 2024 – March 2025)
Engagement methods – infrastructure and capacity groups
We have carried out extensive engagement between March and June 2023 to inform a refresh of our approach to supporting sector infrastructure and the development of an integrated policy framework to underpin future funding programmes.
We have engaged with a wide range of organisations in the sector, including those supported through our existing funding programmes as well as those that are not. We have surveyed priorities and need and held targeted sessions with different parts of the sector; we have also engaged with other departments, local government, and independent funders. See overview of engagement.
We have also worked closely with a reference group comprising a range of sectoral interests, drawing on their lived experience, expertise, and knowledge, and together explored a range of insights and ideas in the design of new approaches.
Through this engagement, desk research, and survey data findings, we were able to identify the current needs and priorities for future support in the sector. We shared what we learned and sought views on a proposed Infrastructure Support Framework via a public consultation which launched on 15 November 2023, lasting 12 weeks, closing on 9 February 2024. Information on the consultation and draft framework is still available.
Engagement methods - independent advice and debt groups
Engagement sessions for thematic Debt and Advice topics have taken place between April and June 2023 and were facilitated by the Strategic Investment Board.
The sessions provided key stakeholders with opportunities to identify evidence of need, gaps in support, identify priorities for future advice and debt support and delivery, facilitate wider participation and discussion, between different stakeholders, and involve a wide range of interested parties in design of future support arrangements. More information on the engagement events is available on the DfC website.
In addition to seeking views from sectoral representatives and ensuring broad representation across stakeholder groups, a reference group has also been established. Reference group members discuss the outcomes of engagement sessions, provide specific focus on certain topics, offer general advice and act as a sounding board.
Contact
If you have any queries on the Voluntary and Community Sector Support Programme, please contact Programme Management Officer Catherine McFadden, at cssp@communities-ni.gov.uk