Welcome to Voluntary Health Scotland’s new monthly policy blog! I’m Matthew James, the new Policy Engagement Lead at VHS. I’ve been at the organisation for just over three months now and have been made to feel so welcome by the team here, as well as by our members and partners. I have been amazed by both the quantity and quality of the work produced by our small team, as well as the extent to which the organisation is able to punch above its weight.
This monthly blog will feature recent policy highlights, as well as upcoming influencing opportunities for VHS and our members.
Our focus over the summer will be the recently announced Third Sector Funding Principles consultation. The third sector is currently facing unprecedented financial pressure. This is illustrated well by a recent survey conducted by the ALLIANCE, which found that 59% of their members were yet to agree their funding for the current year. Furthermore, 49% of the ALLIANCE’s members described their finances as insecure. The impact of this insecurity was demonstrated by a subsequent survey, which found that 60% of the ALLIANCE’s members have found it difficult to retain and recruit staff.
Members of our Scottish Community Link Worker Network have shared similar experiences, with one community link worker stating at the SCLWN Conference in May that the threat of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership cutting funding for their service last year had led to their team losing a lot of experienced community link workers.
VHS’ response to the Third Sector Funding Principles consultation will stress the importance of the work of the third sector and, in particular, its vital role in Scotland’s efforts to tackle health inequalities. To ensure that the sector is able to continue to carry out this vital role, longer term funding certainty will be crucial.
To inform our response to this consultation, we have arranged a kitchen table discussion to gather our members’ views. If you would like to contribute to our response, please get in touch.
Other upcoming consultations include:
- The call for views on the Assisted Dying Bill (16 August) – VHS does not intend to submit a collective response to this consultation on behalf of our members. Due to the strength of feeling regarding this topic, we do not believe that it is possible to fairly represent the diverse range of views of our membership. However, we would encourage our members to submit individual responses to this consultation.
- The call for evidence on the Independent Review of the Adult Disability Payment (23 August) – There are two elements to this consultation, one which is seeking views from organisations and one which is seeking views from individuals. The members of the independent review team intend to engage with the Scottish Community Link Worker Network on this consultation in the autumn.
- The call for views on the draft amendments to the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill (30 August) – Following the Scottish Government’s draft amendments to the NCS Bill, the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has issued a call for written evidence. SPICe has put together a really helpful briefing which explains these proposed amendments very clearly.
- The post legislative scrutiny of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 (13 September) – For this consultation, the Social Justice and Social Security Committee is looking to examine the impact the Act has had since it came into effect.
We’re planning to publish another policy blog next month, so please let me know if there are any policy developments that you would like to be highlighted.
If you or the organisations you represent have any thoughts on the consultations above, then please get in touch. I’m also happy to discuss any of the above in more detail if that would be helpful.
Matthew James is the Policy Engagement Lead at Voluntary Health Scotland.
