Stretched to the Limit!

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 this link will take you away from The Alliance website
• 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

The HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ALLIANCE SCOTLAND is the national third sector intermediary for a range of health and social care organisations. We have a growing membership of over 3,000 national and local third sector organisations, associates in the statutory and private sectors, disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers.