Question reference: S6W-26180
- Date lodged: 14 March 2024
-
Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 27 March 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on progressing the reported proposals for three-year core funding for the third sector.
Answer
The Scottish Government values the important role of Scotland’s third sector in working across communities to tackle tough social issues at source. We recognise the challenges faced by the third sector in the current cost crisis and we will do what we can to take account of the pressures on organisations.
We also recognise that the third sector needs stability and the opportunity for longer term planning and development. That’s why we’ve committed to developing a Fairer Funding approach for the third sector.
Regrettably, the late timing of the UK Government Autumn Statement and the catastrophic cuts to Scotland’s block-grant have caused unavoidable delays in finalising budgets for 24-25.
Therefore, our initial focus has been on improvements to our grant-making arrangements to provide greater clarity and consistency of practice including prompt notification and increased multi-year offers.
We are continuing to explore the extent to which multi-year funding can be secured within the unpredictable and volatile fiscal circumstances we face and remain committed to increasing the number of arrangements.
We are still progressing our commitments and will report on our progress in due course.