A strategy to support charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises, entitled Building a Stronger Civil Society, has been unveiled by Nick Hurd, minister for Civil Society today.

The strategy, says the Government, is the first step towards helping civil society organisations grasp new opportunities arising from the massive devolution of power to local communities and reform of public services that underpins the Big Society.

Speaking to civil society representatives at the National Council of Voluntary Organisation’s head quarters in London on Thursday, the minister also announced he would consult on how best to improve the infrastructure that provides advice, training and funding to front line groups.

Already changes in welfare to work, health and social care and the criminal justice system, offer civil society groups more opportunities to bid for and run public services.

The strategy pulls together ideas and initiatives to give civil society a clear picture of the Government’s vision.

Nick Hurd, minister for Civil Society, said: “Civil society groups cannot be immune from public spending reductions which are necessary for the whole of society. But our vision for a Big Society, with more diverse providers of public services and greater power for communities to make local decisions, brings huge opportunities to charities voluntary groups and social enterprises.

“The Building a Stronger Civil Society strategy gives a clear plan for government support to charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises as they adjust to a new relationship with the state. It’s important that we hear from the front line about the kind of support that will really help them which is why we are launching a consultation.”

Plans in the strategy include:

· Reducing red tape for small organisations;

· Giving public sector staff the right to spin-out and form a co-ops or mutual supported by a new network of advice and mentoring;

· Give local communities the right to buy or bid to run community assets;

· Continue to match fund local endowments to encourage giving; and

· Modernisation of public service commissioning so the most efficient and effective charities can get a fair chance to bid for public contracts.

Charities voluntary groups and social enterprises will also find new opportunities in the drive for greater transparency, noted Hurd.

For example local authorities are now required to publish all their spending above £500 which will give the sector greater access to competitively important information.

The Government also launched a consultation, Supporting a Stronger Civil Society, which invites views on improving support for frontline civil society organisations.

Responding to the launch, Stephen Bubb, CEO of ACEVO, said: “We welcome the Government’s ambitions for our sector, and also its recognition that these opportunities come at a ‘particularly challenging time’ for the sector. But the sector is going to need real support to grasp the opportunities and a sensible approach from government in managing public spending cuts.

“We particularly welcome the emphasis on giving third sector organisations ‘a much greater role in the running of public services’, an agenda which has been overshadowed by the media focus on volunteering and community action.

“We welcome the fact that the government has identified key areas for practical action, such as capacity-building, Gift Aid and reforming commissioning. We look forward to working with the Office for Civil Society on these. But we will now be looking to the Spending Review and departmental plans for concrete detail to back this strategy up.”

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, and chair of the event responded by saying: "The strategy is a useful first step for supporting the sector in the challenging times ahead. Ministers at the event acknowledged concerns about funding the sector in the context of the cuts, and recognised that some of the new opportunities for the sector will not be established before the cuts start to happen.

"So we look forward to seeing what action the government takes in the Spending Review to ensure that cuts do not unfairly or disproportionately affect voluntary and community organisations, and which programmes they put in place."

Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of Volunteering England, commented: “We welcome the Government’s focus in these consultative papers on the development of volunteering and social action and the importance of national and local infrastructure.

“We recognise the case for rationalisation among infrastructure organisations, and Volunteering England has been encouraging the modernisation of the local Volunteer Centre network over the past several years as part of the Building on Success agenda. Indeed, the mergers which have formed Volunteering England have highlighted the significant benefits of merger, and we are ready to help wider learning from our experience.”

“It is good to have confirmed that the Government is ‘very aware of the risks associated with cuts in public expenditure’ as we are very concerned that the level of cuts in national and local government expenditure will undermine the Government’s Big Society agenda.”

“I am particularly pleased to see that the Government recognises that it will take time for the voluntary and community sector to respond to the reforms outlined by the Government.”

On the Supporting a Stronger Civil Society consultation, Sir Stuart added: "We will be contributing our views to the Supporting a Stronger Civil Society consultation. We also encourage voluntary and community organisations to let the government know what they value about the support they receive from infrastructure organisations, and what they anticipate their future needs for support will be."

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