Share your ideas with Cabinet Ministers

[Alison J Stevens]

Share your ideas with Cabinet Ministers

The Rt Hon Francis Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General has written to the VCS inviting them to comment and pass
examples of good practice and ideas to the Office for Civil Society. To
find out more and how to submit your thoughts click read more.

OPEN LETTER TO THE VOLUNTARY, COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SECTORS

Dear all,

As you know the Coalition government attaches a high priority to tackling the deficit and restoring confidence in the economy. I am sure you will
agree that this is in the long term interest of the voluntary and
community sector.

We have to make significant savings across all areas of Government; however as the Chancellor has said, the deficit reduction plan cannot just be about cuts. It must also be about finding
better ways of doing things. We want to hear your thoughts on how this
is best done.

Your voice is particularly important as you work on the front line delivering services, often to the most vulnerable people. You also have a great deal of experience of engaging with the
State and can see what is working and what can be done better.

We are working with colleagues across Government to ensure they consider the impact on the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors
when making decisions that may affect it and to remind them of the
importance of taking account of the Compact as savings and efficiencies
are identified in their department. We are also working with colleagues
in the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Local
Government Association to encourage Local Authorities to respect the
Compact and work through the challenges in partnership with the local
voluntary and community sector. In this context we are interested in
examples of best practice that can be shared across the network.

We have asked our strategic partners and advisory body to gather information on the impact of cuts and where the biggest issues may
arise and we urge you to work with your representative organisations to
pass your examples of good practice and your ideas for savings and so
on to the Office for Civil Society.

As of today you can e-mail [e-mail] to share information and thoughts with us, and we have created an open-space on the Cabinet Office website for you to post comments. You
can access this at: www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Managing the deficit programme of this scale will be a challenge and difficult choices will have to be made. However, we want to hear your views and
we will work in partnership with you to ensure your concerns, ideas for
savings, and examples of best practice are taken into consideration.

Yours sincerely,
FRANCIS MAUDE NICK HURD

Value-Social enterprise.