The big squeeze tightens

LVSC and its partners have just published their third Big Squeeze report, which sought evidence from London’s VCS about the impact of public spending cuts on the sector.

There is a growing concern among respondents that Londoners and the VCS who support them are being hit harder than ever due to the continued impact of the poor economic climate and the additional impact of the current public sector spending cuts.

In fact over half (51%) of groups have had to close services over the last year and 54% expected further service closures over the next year. Respondents feared that these closures would disproportionately affect those in greatest need.

The good news is that over 90% of organisations are taking action to continue providing services. The bad news is that over 50% of respondents had to make redundancies and increase their reliance on volunteers and unpaid interns to balance an increase in demand for services at the same time as budgets were being cut.

Cost-cutting has caused the loss of trained and professional staff and led to a greater use of volunteers who often cannot be adequately trained or supported because the funding isn’t there anymore.

‘More people want to become volunteers with us,’ said one survey respondent, adding: ‘this might seem a good thing but volunteers cost money and we have lost funding for this.’

In previous years, the Big Squeeze reports have accurately predicted trends which later proved true. This year’s research reveals a worrying trend of disproportionate cuts to cost effective preventative services particularly advice, children and young people and health services.

So how will this affect the people who need preventative services most? Well, if this trend continues as suggested, it may lead to increasing health and social problems in the long term and cost the government and taxpayer much more than it will save.

As another respondent explains: ‘We see cutting preventative services as short-sighted – it is likely to cost the council and the NHS more in the long run.’

Through the Big Squeeze campaign, LVSC and its partners hope to influence policy and decision-makers to understand the impact of recent cuts and the recession and how this affects Londoners reliant on VCS services. If the government is serious about its Big Society rhetoric than it needs to listen to the sector and ensure that already chronic inequalities in the capital do not increase even further.

Dialogue between the sector and its partners is essential to minimise the negative impact of the cuts.

The  Big Squeeze report is available to download for free.