As a member of The Third Sector Interface Scotland Network we have joined our colleagues at SCVO and written to Natalie Don MSP, Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise, to raise concerns about the administration of the Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learning Third Sector Fund (CYPFAL TSF), and its predecessor funds, the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention (CYPFEI) Fund and the Adult Learning and Empowering Communities (ALEC) Fund.
The letter is signed by Anna Fowlie (SCVO), Anthea Coulter (Clacks TSI), Lesley Kelly (Midlothian Voluntary Action), and Bridie Ashrowan (EVOC).
Dear Ms Don
Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learning Third Sector Fund
Congratulations on your new post, and I’m sorry that our first contact is on such a negative note.
We are writing to express significant concerns and frustration around the Children, Young People, Families and Adult Learning Third Sector Fund (CYPFAL) and its predecessor funds, the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention (CYPFEI) and the Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund (ALEC).
The administration of these funding streams has been subject to many challenges, delays and changes over their lifetime; you will find a chronology of this funding in Appendix 1 which sets out what has happened over the last 7 years.
We have also enclosed copies of our previous correspondence with Ms Haughey and officials in December and January, when we raised concerns about the most recent delays in decision-making and their impact on voluntary organisations.
We are writing to you to raise further concerns about the way in which decisions about the fund have been made and how they’ve been communicated. It is unfortunately no overstatement to say that these recent developments have confirmed the administration of this fund by the Scottish Government as one of the worst the voluntary sector has experienced, impacting on children and families as well as the organisations that support them.
Much has changed since 2016, when the first applications were submitted to the CYPFEI & ALEC funds were submitted, yet the series of decisions made to delay and ultimately cancel successor funds means that in some cases organisations who were successful in 2016 are being funded for projects which, seven years later, may not be meeting the most pressing needs in their communities. Furthermore, budgets for these projects have been at a standstill for seven years, while expectations around service delivery have remained the same, meaning that many organisations are subsidising the delivery of these services.
Organisations in receipt of CYPFEI and ALEC funding were given 9 days to accept the extension, before any notification of the outcome of their application to CYPFAL.
Many of those voluntary organisations have put significant time and effort into applying for funding first from the Families and Communities Fund and most recently from the CYPFAL fund, only to be told on each occasion that these new applications have been effectively withdrawn, with CYPEIF & ALEC funding being carried over instead. This is a significant waste of scarce voluntary sector resources, and incredibly demoralising for the organisations involved. It’s also a waste of time and effort within the civil service.
Organisations applying to the new funds have faced periods of incredible uncertainty – waiting to hear the results of those applications, and for some organisations facing eight separate notifications of delay to the stated timetables.
All of this also holds true for organisations making applications for the first time to the Families and Communities Fund or CYPFAL, who not only faced periods of uncertainty and delay, and who were disappointed to see a fund simply deleted, but saw no recognition of the considerable investment they had made.
Third sector organisations play a key role in supporting children, families and communities, particularly at times of crisis. Statutory services rely on them for specialist interventions. Voluntary organisations are particularly good at early intervention and prevention – more necessary than ever when councils are having to focus more and more on statutory, high tariff activities.
While the voluntary organisations involved are reeling from the way this process has been rolled out, the message that we’re hearing most often is a desire to ensure that lessons are learnt from this experience and mistakes are not repeated. I will be making contact with your colleagues in other parts of Scottish Government to discuss this, but would urge the Children and Families team, in recognition of how badly this has been handled, to commit to a reflection exercise involving funded organisations and applicants which should not only improve future funding streams from this department, but also inform wider learning across Scottish Government.
Yours sincerely
Anna Fowlie, SCVO
Lesley Kelly, Midlothian Voluntary Action
Anthea Coulter, Clacks TSI
Bridie Ashrowan, EVOC
On behalf of SCVO and The Third Sector Interface Scotland Network
