Community action needs to be underpinned by sustainable and long term financial support

4 December 2024

Ahead of today’s budget announcement by the Scottish Government (4th December 2024 at 3pm – watch the livestream) all TSIs across Scotland are calling for sustainable funding for the community, third and social enterprise sectors.

The TSI Scotland Network are calling on Government to ensure communities and a sustainably funded third sector are at the heart of public service reform. 

The Network has four asks contained in a new document which has been submitted to Ministers:-

Ask 1: Invest in collaborative third sector delivery models to support public sector reform

Ask 2: Fairer funding to enable the systems change the Scottish Government seeks

Ask 3: Direct funding to communities that is shaped by local people and groups

Ask 4: Support the TSI Scotland Network to lead on change and fund it to do so.

For us in Argyll and Bute we know that many community groups and valued local services are under threat. For fourteen years the public sector has been under financial pressure and some services and much loved community assets have explored different models of operating but that is only sustainable for so long. Other countries such as France and Finland have long recognised that local community services cannot exist without a strong core of public funding particularly in rural, remote and island communities.

If we do not change the sector’s funding model many more local assets will close. We have already lost the Oban Phoenix cinema and many more groups are running on unsustainably tight reserves. Our call for a Fairer Funding model – three year grants as a minimum – is made jointly with the SCVO and has been endorsed by a September 2024 Scottish Parliamentary committee report.

Our sector is the third largest and across Scotland employs 133,000 people who are committed to improving our communities.  It is a cornerstone in helping keep our society compassionate, equal and just. Long-term fair funding would help ensure the sector could offer fair work and security to its employees, be proactively involved in needed local change, and deliver sustainable impact into the future.

Takki Sulaiman CEO of Argyll and Bute TSI says, “Whether it be running foodbanks, managing advice services or providing invaluable health and social care services, the sector is struggling with the impact of successive budget cuts and a failure to fund them properly.”

“Now is the time to invest in multi-year funding agreements as well as a funding increase that reflects cumulative inflationary pressures and the forthcoming increases to National Insurance Contributions.”

“A bank of knowledge, experience and trusted relationships within communities could see the third sector better inform the redesign and reform of public services and in turn deliver renewed, high quality, locally available public services designed with communities.”

“Many in the third sector believe in the Scottish Government’s ambitions for our communities but we need the funding and policy environment to help make these ambitions a reality.”