Our vision is of ... a sustainable sector

It is internationally recognised that one of the measures of the strength and stability of a democracy is the number and spread of voluntary and community organisations.

Northern Ireland should be proud of the fact that it has over 4,500 voluntary and community organisations delivering front line public services, developing and regenerating local communities and building social capital across Northern Ireland. The sector employs just over 29,000 people and a much larger number of people are in fact involved or associated with those organisations in a voluntary capacity. 

The sector has a total income of £570million and £737.5million in assets (State of the Sector V, 2009), excluding housing associations and sport organisations. 

Of the £570million of income, around £260million comes from government in Northern Ireland and in general buys public services from voluntary and community organisations to deliver on behalf of, or in partnership with, government.

The important role played by voluntary and community organisations has been recognised in the 2010 NI Audit Office report. Creating Effective Partnerships between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector found that the voluntary and community sector “makes a significant contribution to the achievement of the Executive’s strategic goals and priorities.”  

The voluntary and community sector is worried that as cuts to public expenditure begin to bite, organisations delivering public services will be vulnerable to unfair and potentially disproportionate cuts. This is because voluntary and community sector providers are often seen as additional to statutory services. 

The voluntary and community sector works to address many of the key social, economic and environmental issues facing Northern Ireland. By adopting an early intervention, prevention, education and community development approach voluntary and community organisations can offer solutions which deliver the preferred outcome for people, families and communities while at the same time saving the cost of more expensive and less effective alternatives.

Voluntary and community organisations offer a considerable resource.  They can unlock funding, expertise, user involvement and community buy-in that government could not otherwise access.

The voluntary and community sector is also the place where new ideas are tested, difficult issues are debated, solutions are found and citizens take action on issues that matter to them and the people they care about.

In order to realise our vision of a Northern Ireland with a strong and sustainable voluntary and community sector, politicians and political parties should:

• Commit the Northern Ireland Executive to putting in place a compact with outside stakeholders across the voluntary and community, private, and trades union sectors.  The purpose of the compact would be to get agreement on the actions necessary to reshape the economy and deliver good public services, the focus of which is the needs of individual citizens.
• Recognise the importance of the work of the voluntary and community sector and support and respect those employed in the sector by monitoring services facing cuts. Cuts to public services delivered by voluntary and community organisations should be challenged with the same vigour as those delivered by other agencies.
• Support and engage in full and inclusive consultation on the commitment plan to implement the Concordat between the Government and the voluntary and community sector. This should include the development of an agreed Executive level vision for the future role of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. Ensure the Concordat is enforced by all government departments and their agencies. Support the development of local concordats between local government and the sector.
• Deal with waste and create efficiencies by implementing the recommendations of the 2010 NI Audit Office report Creating Effective Partnerships between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector. This recommends a more appropriate level of systems and processes connected to auditing and accounting for government funding. The report also recommends a move towards measuring the quality of outcomes delivered by organisations.  Ensure voluntary and community organisations are enabled to compete for tenders for government services on an equal basis to all other organisations.
• Recognise the importance of local community development organisations to building social capital, regenerating communities, fostering social inclusion and linking disadvantaged communities to information and services. Do this by building active links with community development organisations in your local areas and supporting a robust community development infrastructure across Northern Ireland.