Stretched to the Limit: ALLIANCE report highlights cost of living pressures on the third sector
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 13th September 2023
The crisis is impacting every aspect of the sector including funding, services and staffing, whilst deepening existing challenges.
Following our 2022 report on the impact of the cost of living crisis on individuals, ‘Disabled people, unpaid carers and the cost of living crisis: Impacts, responses and long term solutions‘, the ALLIANCE have published a second report on how the crisis is affecting Scotland’s third sector.
‘Stretched to the Limit: Scotland’s Third Sector and the cost of living crisis‘ brings together findings from a survey of the ALLIANCE’s organisational membership in the spring, a detailed case study from one of our members, and a workshop at our annual conference. Taken together, these paint a picture of a sector which is under intense stress.
Amongst the findings of our survey were that 84% of member organisations responding had experienced increased demand for services, yet 61% reported reduction in funding via grants, 76% were facing higher bills, and 48% were unable to give their employees pay uplifts. Despite these challenges the third sector continues to be a lifeline for many people across Scotland, responding flexibly to the changing needs of the people it supports.
With 88% of organisations saying that they would benefit from longer-term funding arrangements, and funding arising as the focus for discussion at our conference workshop, fair funding tops our list of recommendations, which include:
- Progressing commitments to fair funding for the third sector, in line with the SCVO definition
- Ensuring the Fair Work agenda goes beyond funding the Real Living Wage, and instead to pay that is comparable to equivalent statutory sector roles
- Tailored support for organisations operating in rural Scotland
- Targeted support for energy bills, and in the longer term lower energy tariff arrangements for the third sector
- Adopting a human rights based approach to procurement and grant funding
- Investing in services that reduce demand for acute interventions from the public and third sectors
You can read the full report via the links below.
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