Message from Alan Webb, Chief Executive Officer, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway
Colleagues
You will not have missed the many months of conversations nationally and regionally about economic and real-term financial challenges facing the public sector. For our sector, this has felt like decades-long conversations where many have always been in a financially insecure space.
Since coming into post late in 2023, I have been advocating for a change in approach to our sector, with local partners and with Scottish Government, as well as some national funders. We have strong relationships and recognition of our sector in partnership spaces, but we must see action in how those partnerships translate to change in our communities – through Fair Funding, leadership of our third sector, direct investment that’s not filtered by multiple levels of public bodies, involving our sector in strategic decision making and that our sector now needs to be part of the changes proposed.
I have no doubt that change is happening. We must be part of it. We will need to change too. This may be felt imminently and more directly by those in our sector who receive funding through public services where significant financial gaps exist to levels never seen before and there is a ‘right now’ pressure for change. That, in turn, adds more pressure on national and independent funders with increased demand for ever-reducing resources overall.
A recent publication by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) shows disinvestment of public sector funds in Scotland’s third sector of over £177m in real terms since 2021. That’s almost the size of Dumfries and Galloway’s entire third sector.
So, in the face of unprecedented pressures to income and costs, I wanted to set out a few of the areas where we have focussed our attention, in addition to the individual and forum-based support our team has been delivering.
Fair Funding
This is not a new ask for our sector, however we’ve taken the opportunity of the publication of new guidance from the Community Planning Improvement Board to encourage partners to adopt the latest guidance. We are actively working on an implementation plan with partners so we can turn these principles into local action – more sustainable, long-term funding; full cost recovery; strategic decision making; and unrestricted funding whenever it’s possible.
Public Sector Reform (PSR)
We were invited to join the Public Finance Minister at the PSR Summit, with a new government paper due to be published later in the spring. I’m clear that the time for reorganisation in public services is long overdue. We are now in the era where we need to completely reimagine the role of public services and give greater value to communities and the third sector’s role, particularly in the areas of prevention and community-building, resilience etc. We continue to engage with Scottish Government across several thematic areas, but also the local level change with our NHS and Council partners.
Commissioning
Hand in hand with reform, local commissioning models are under review. We are encouraging our partners to take an outcomes-based approach to commissioning and to adopt Fair Funding. However, in a space where there are immense and immediate financial pressures, this will also mean our sector having to adapt and change to how we achieve or contribute to regional priorities and outcomes. For those who want to be involved, and in particular those funded by public bodies, this is likely to mean more cross-sector collaboration. We are pressing for our sector to take the lead in the design of our own role, creating opportunity to increase investment in us across the medium term.
Whilst none of this takes away your organisation’s independence and need to oversee your own priorities, I am of the view that the change that is about to come will present significant impacts and opportunities for our sector. We cannot represent individual positions, but we do work hard for the whole sector’s interests. This is becoming more difficult given the pace of change conversations that are now underway and the broad-reaching nature of our essential sector.
I would encourage you to be involved where you can. For those who want to stay connected, please do so through our thematic forums but also consider joining our COGITS meetings of sector leaders, where I will provide more detailed updates and can also take back key themes from the sector to our partnership spaces. As always, I’m keen to hear your experiences and suggestions too, so please keep in touch ceo@tsdg.org.uk
With best wishes
Alan Webb
Chief Executive Officer, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway