The Edinburgh Partnership is conducting a review of how it supports and works with third sector organisations in Edinburgh.
The review into the relationship between the public sector and third sector in Edinburgh seeks to improve funding certainty in future years. This includes how grant funding and commissioning is delivered, how third sector organisations monitor and report on their work, and what in-kind support is provided.
Third sector organisations of all types – voluntary, social enterprises and charities – are being asked to share their views through the City of Edinburgh Council’s Consultation Hub survey or by attending a workshop.
The results will be reported to the Policy and Sustainability Committee in August.
Council Leader and Chair of the Edinburgh Partnership, Jane Meagher, said: “The third sector provides vital support to local communities, with many giving direct support to the most vulnerable in our city.
“We know that they, like the Council, are under significant financial pressure and that there needs to be longer-term change in how they are supported by us and our partners.
“We want to hear about how we can make it simpler, provide more stability, and work better together to help vulnerable people. You can share your views through the council’s consultation hub webpage, or by attending one of the workshops.”
Workshops run from Monday 19 May until Thursday 5 June. Details are available on the Consultation Hub and booking is required.
As part of the city’s commitment to help the sector, the council has dedicated £3.5m this year to help organisations impacted by unexpected loss of grant funding or reduced commissioning.
Charities due to lose funding from the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) will be able to apply for emergency support from the City of Edinburgh Council.
A one-off Third Sector Resilience Fund will launch tomorrow (Friday 28 March) and will remain open for two weeks. It will only be open to organisations in Edinburgh directly impacted by the closure of the EIJB’s third sector grants programme and applications must be made by 12 noon on Friday 11 April.
This package of support will include a funded programme worth £1m to allow third sector advice providers to continue to offer income maximisation, debt, and welfare advice services previously funded by the EIJB grants programme.
Applications will be reviewed and reported to a special meeting of the Policy and Sustainability Committee on Monday 12 May, with the intention of releasing funds in June.
Further work is progressing to review the relationship between the public sector and third sector in Edinburgh, to improve funding certainty in future years.
Council Leader, Jane Meagher, said: “Many of these local charities are at the forefront of helping those in our city with the greatest need. We’ve urgently been working to provide a lifeline to those affected by the closure of the previous grants programme, and I’m really pleased that we’ve found a way forward.
“This fund should provide enough money to potentially support all 64 affected organisations for up to nine months. It must be said that this is a one-off emergency fund – we need to act quickly, and I urge applications to be made as soon as possible.
“Alongside this we must develop a stronger way of supporting the third sector in our city. We recognise that the EIJB, like the Council, is under significant financial pressure and there needs to be longer-term change.
“Tackling poverty and inequality is one of the biggest challenges we’ve set ourselves as a city and this will be a really important piece of work – for us, for our partners and for the whole third sector.”
Benjamin Napier, CEO of Citizens Advice Edinburgh, is a member of the third sector reference group which the Council has set up as it reviews the funding relationship the city has with charities.
Benjamin said: “We welcome this investment in the third sector and hope it will go some way to providing resilience, while we continue our work with colleagues across the Council to find a longer-term solution.
“We recognise the pressures on public funding and thank the Council for their efforts in securing this funding. The third sector in Edinburgh plays a vital and very cost-effective role in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
“We look forward to strengthening the relationship between the Council and the third sector. By working together in this way, we can create real and lasting change for our citizens.”
The City of Edinburgh Council Third Sector Resilience Fund is a short term, one off, draw down resource using reserves agreed for use during 2025/26.
The fund aims to:
Provide financial support in 2025/26 for Edinburgh based third sector organisations significantly impacted by the closure of the EIJB Grants Programme
Ensure that the closure of the EIJB Grants Programme does not affect, disrupt, or delay the delivery of other grant funded or commissioned projects and services in the city during 2025/26.
Towards these aims:
The funding is for the period 1 July 2025 to 31 March 2026, whilst the wider review of the Council’s approach to supporting the third sector in Edinburgh is undertaken during 2025/26
Is intended to ensure the viability and survival of the third sector organisations whilst a new sustainable long-term approach, aligned with the Council’s Business Plan priorities, is developed for implementation from 2026/27 onwards
Not intended to provide costs associated with closure of an organisation because of the loss of EIJB grant funding, and
Not intended to be used for delivery of any specific projects or services that would be the direct function of the EIJB(noting that this fund will provide resilience until such time as the EIJB’s Strategic Plan is published and any future procurement processes are confirmed and made available to the 3rd sector).
It is the 21 February and the days are getting longer but more importantly, the future is looking brighter (writes EVOC CEO BRUCE CRAWFORD).
EIJB Fund Cuts
On Thursday (yesterday) the City of Edinburgh Council held a full Council meeting. I was in attendance to make a deputation on behalf of the voluntary organisations impacted by the cuts by the EIJB grants programme for social care.
This followed months of work by colleagues from across the sector who have worked tirelessly for the affected organisations. The work was largely done by members of the Third Sector Reference Group that came into existence after the EIJB meeting on 1 November which led to a three month extension to June 2025.
The eventual outcome is that the £4.5m grants programme has been replaced for the next financial year, so services can continue to be delivered to many of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
Further work needs to be done in the coming weeks and months to help the officers to create the mechanism for disbursement of the funds.
I want to thank all the individuals who contributed to this success, it is evidence of the need to work together, focus on the needs of our communities and stand up for what is right. I hope that we can build on the experience to generate continued investment into the sector as this will not be the last challenge we face.
A key function of EVOC is advocacy and this includes responding to consultations on proposed legislation and strategies. A current example of this is the draft Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board’s strategy 2025-28.
We have published information on our work in this area on our website. It includes a presentation and a video that explains the draft strategy.
To inform our response we have asked a number of questions through an online survey. Despite our request for an extension, the deadline from the EIJB is this Sunday (23 Feb 2025) and there is still no easy read version available.
We encourage everyone who is interested in, or affected by this, to submit a response here.
Looking Forward
On 29 January I attended my first EVOC board meeting and found it to be useful and productive in equal measures. In the spirit of openness and transparency the directors unanimously agreed to my proposal to publish minutes of EVOC board meetings on the website. The minute of that meeting can be found here.
Following the challenges faced by EVOC in 2024 we created a recovery plan and are well on the way to developing a more robust and resilient organisation.
Some key changes are: improved policies and procedures, greater financial scrutiny and forecasting, better communication, along with a new risk management policy and risk register and a new strategic plan that focuses on the core purpose of the organisation to serve the needs of the sector.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the survey that we issued last month to inform our understanding of the needs of our members. We received a great deal of useful feedback and it will help our thinking as we develop the strategic plan for EVOC for 2025-2030.
Finally I am looking forward to our AGM on 26 February.
It is being held online to help make attendance as easy as possible. Details of how to register for the meeting are available here.
A Third Sector Response to the Draft EIJB Strategic Plan for 2025-28
In response to the EIJB consultation inviting people and organisations to have a say on the draft Strategic Plan for 2025 – 28, the Third Sector Reference Group is working on a contribution on behalf of our sector.
This is another in a series of actions in light of the future funding crisis third sector organisations are facing across the city.
Your input to this response is vital and we would ask any and all third sector groups and organisations to share your hopes, fears and priorities, by answering the 9 questions in this short survey.
You are also encouraged to submit a separate response individually, feeding back on the identified priorities, planned actions and measures of success.
You can find out more and submit a response to the consultation here.
Please be aware that the deadline for the consultation submission is extremely tight – Sunday 23rd Feb 2025.
This is strongly influencing the actions we are focusing on to deliver the best outcome for the sector.
The Reference Group has pulled together several resources that you might find useful:
I have now been in post as CEO with EVOC for 25 days (on 22/1), though it sometimes feels like a lot longer! I have had a whirlwind of an introduction, and my feet have hardly touched the ground, which has made it exciting.
I have met a lot of great people from across the sector and our partner organisations, including the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government. I have been made to feel welcome and have learned a lot from a diverse mix of individuals.
I have heard of the challenges different organisations are facing right now, and these conversations are shaping my understanding and giving me insights that I will be distilling, with colleagues, into our future planning.
We are currently seeking the views of members and voluntary organisations in Edinburgh to tell us about their needs and the challenges that they are facing in 2025 and beyond. To increase the number of people who can contribute, we are using a survey that will be circulated to our members.
Please take a few minutes to complete it to ensure we consider the needs of more organisations in shaping how we work in future and what our priorities will be.
This month we are preparing for our Annual General Meeting at 4pm on Wednesday 26 February which will be held on Zoom. We will report on the year 2023/24 and give a flavour of our plans for the future.
We are looking for new individuals with business skills to be elected to the board of EVOC to join a committed group of volunteers who are interested in the development of EVOC as representatives to serve third sector organisations in Edinburgh. You can find how to apply to join the Board of Directors here.
Separately we are seeking a new Convener to chair the board and provide leadership to the organisation and directors. We’re looking for somebody with integrity good governance, leadership, finance and change management experience. If you are interested in this role, please see the details here.
We are spending a great deal of time currently in seeking ways to support those organisations affected by the impending cuts to the Edinburgh Integration Joint Board (EIJB) grants scheme which is a partnership between the NHS and the City of Edinburgh Council.
In recent months we have increased our engagement across the sector, so that we are better able to represent the views and interests of voluntary organisations in strategic forums such as the EIJB and the Edinburgh Partnership.
We are doing this as we strengthen our culture of service, to our members and to the sector.
We would like you to share your views on Edinburgh Integration Joint Board’s (IJB) Draft Strategic Plan.
This plan covers the three financial years running from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028.
Our purpose as an IJB is to provide the best health and social care services that we can with the resources we have available.
This means working to make Edinburgh a safer, healthier and fairer place to live for everybody.
This latest version of the plan has been produced with extensive input from the citizens of Edinburgh and the many organisations and teams that serve our communities.
We would like to know if you think we have the right priorities, if you agree with what we are planning to do and if you think the way we plan to measure our success is right. Please use the form on the following pages to tell us what you think. You can answer as many or as few of the questions as you like.
EVOC (Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council) is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Crawford.
Following a comprehensive recruitment process, led by EVOC’s Board and involving representatives from the Third Sector and Edinburgh’s Third Sector Interface partners (Edinburgh Social Enterprise Network and Volunteer Edinburgh), Bruce will take up the CEO position today – Monday 9 December 2024.
Bruce brings a breadth of strategic leadership experience to the role, as a CEO, Trustee and Volunteer. As Director of Grange Associates, he has supported charities and social enterprises to develop and succeed, offering advice in a range of areas including governance, strategy, policy, change management, diversity, risk management, business planning and sustainability.
As Chief Executive for Scottish Curling, Bruce led successful negotiations that secured £2m funding for covid recovery from the Scottish Government and played a key role in developing strategies and campaigns to ensure that the Olympic profile and success were capitalised to maximum effect.
He is also a member of the Sustainability Committee for World Curling and is the chair of the James Gillespie’s Trust.
Diarmaid Lawlor (EVOC Convenor) said: ““We are delighted to appoint Bruce to lead EVOC. This has been a competitive and thorough recruitment process.
“The core of strong Third Sector organisations is clear purpose, tangible impacts, sustainable finance, and, particularly relevant to this situation, great people.
“Bruce’s appointment completes EVOC’s internal staffing restructure and we look forward to working with him and the wider Third Sector to finalise our strategic priorities, working towards ‘a strong sector for a strong city’.”
Responding to news of his appointment, Bruce said: “I am delighted to be appointed to lead EVOC as its new CEO, working with the staff and board, listening to members and consulting with stakeholders as we support the voluntary organisations that serve our communities.
“I am looking forward to hearing from colleagues across the sector as we develop our new strategy and set priorities, which will help us to make an impact and address the challenges that lie ahead.”
I am writing to you to provide an update on Edinburgh TSI* activity since the EIJB Board meeting on November 1 and to invite your collaboration on the next steps.
Though it was welcome that the IJB agreed not to proceed with an in-year cut to the Third Sector Grants Programme, the process leading to that decision, and risks flowing from the meeting on November 1 remain very challenging.
Resolving the funding position for the Third Sector Grant recipients, and all third sector funding from the IJB for 2025/6 alongside co-designing the conditions of success for any future model of working in partnership is a key priority for the Sector, and as a consequence, for the Edinburgh TSI.
We believe the IJB proposals need to be part of a wider strategic conversation in the city about how we invest in the Third Sector, ensuring we have the right investment in the right places with the right capacity to deliver the most impact.
Edinburgh TSI letter following November 1
In the lead-up to the November 1 IJB meeting, we worked collaboratively with the Edinburgh Community Health Forum, and others across our sector to draw out information for briefings from affected TSOs through phone calls, questionnaires and meetings. This concluded with a detailed rebuttal of arguments in Paper 7.2, as presented to the IJB as well as a TSI deputation. The deputation sought to build on the arguments put forward by organisations for time to plan better and work differently.
Following that meeting, I wrote on behalf of the TSI to the Chair of the EIJB, the leader of the Council, the CEC Chief Executive and the NHS Lothian Chief Executive. I emphasised the need for:
Resetting investment: there is a need for a whole city conversation on a sustainable financial settlement for the Third Sector
Reforming ways of working: there needs to be a better approach to commissioning, valuing and supporting The Third Sector through change
Repairing relationships: recognising and valuing the value of the Third Sector contribution to communities is an important part of relationship development
Edinburgh IJB engagement on Third Sector Grants and contracts
Agreeing on a funding settlement for 2025/6 is a key objective for the Third Sector, both for the Third Sector Grants Programme and for the larger contracted services with Third Sector Organisations.
There are different possible scenarios. A best-case scenario might be a one-year continuation of the grants programme while time is dedicated to coherently and collaboratively designing a sustainable “replacement” which enables the IJB to purchase what they need and want from the Third Sector while providing foundational funding for the wider sector.
This will require a series of conversations, some sense of prioritisation and scoping of how to manage change. The big challenge is time. Initial discussions are progressing between Edinburgh TSI and the IJB on immediate priorities, and a meeting has been invited with CEC.
To inform the discussions on funding, the Edinburgh TSI met with a group of Third Sector partners to scope priorities. This includes articulating the real consequences of making any cuts on the Sector and its ability to deliver outcomes with communities; seeking confirmation on the priority focus for the IJB in 2025/6, and inviting discussion on options around the best use of our joint resources through a process of co-design. These conversations will need to be ongoing. We welcome your views as to how best to shape them.
Edinburgh IJB engagement on Public Social Partnership
Any change to a way of working to a Public Social Partnership or some other commissioning model by the IJB demands an investment of time up front.
This time is needed to confirm commitment to co-design to ensure that any partnership is a partnership, and any working relationship is founded on clear conditions for success.
This needs an investment in learning from other PSP’s in the city, what worked, and what didn’t, and it needs clarity on roles and responsibilities. In the meantime, a clear transition arrangement needs to be set out, describing how current commitments and contracts are to be managed.
Following the November 1 meeting, the IJB have been reviewing budget and partnership proposals. They have invited a group of Third Sector representatives to discuss how to progress partnership working together on shared issues and challenges.
The purpose of the meeting is to start a conversation about how best to work together, who to engage and what success looks like. The next steps will need wider conversations within the sector and between the sector and the IJB, and we invite your views as to how best to shape this.
Reference Group Proposal
The Third Sector has important Board roles on the EIJB and other city institutions. However, at the EIJB meeting, Cllr Pogson asked if there was enough Third Sector representation on the Board.
A reformed Board may be a future possibility, but meanwhile, it is critical to be able to support the people who occupy these Board seats so the voices of the sector feed into them, support and challenge them.
This is particularly the case in the next year or so where there will be very challenging issues and decisions to consider, with significant impact for the Sector.
To try and make sense of where to best put attention around these issues, we have convened a small, embryonic group of sector people. We aim to build this into a Reference Group with representation from across the Sector to distil and amplify the voices of the sector around priority issues. This will evolve over the next few months, and we invite your collaboration.
Our initial sense is that the areas of focus are about:
Asserting value: articulating the impact of the sector with fair methods of measurement
Supporting resilience: co-designing ways of working for sector sustainability
Shaping investment: making the case for ongoing investment around sector need
Informing governance: supporting Third Sector Board seats on city partnerships
We have developed Draft Terms of Reference for this Group, which builds on the current issues around the IJB but also focuses on the Third Sector as a whole.
Next steps
In sharing this context and background, it is my intention to work collaboratively to find a solution to the real risks we are facing as a sector.
In this context, I invite you to get in touch with initial feedback on the role of the TSI in shaping the Reference Group. In the meantime, Edinburgh TSI colleagues will continue to convene the sector through forums, networks and meetings, alongside the Edinburgh Community Health Forum.
Together, we can also continue to highlight the risks and impact of this loss of investment in the third sector, both individually and collectively.
Please get in touch and get involved. We recognise that our strength is in working together and supporting each other across our rich, diverse and talented Third Sector. I look forward to working with you.
EDINBURGH INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD PLANS TO END £4.5 million GRANTS TO 63 COMUNITY PROJECTS
SCOTTISH COUNCIL of VOLUNTARY ORGANIATIONS (SCVO)
SCVO response to proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations:
Letter to Councillor Cammy Day, Leader of City of Edinburgh Council,
Professor John Connaghan OBE, Chair of NHS Lothian
cc Pat Togher, Chief Officer EIJB
Proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations
I am writing to add SCVO’s voice to the protests regarding the IJB’s proposal to withdraw funding in-year from charities and community groups. 37 of our members are impacted by this decision.
The intention outlined in the board paper to take a more strategic and collaborative approach in the future has been totally undermined by the impact of reneging on this year’s grant funding.
Trust is a fragile thing, and it will take a long time to rebuild any sense that the council and the health board have an understanding of, or respect for, the voluntary organisations that do so much to support our communities.
When you look to build your strategic partnership in 2025, many of them simply won’t be there because they will have gone out of business.
Far from saving money, this will generate significant costs to public services as people fall through the cracks, and the additional millions of pounds voluntary organisations bring in from trusts and foundations or the private sector through match funding and other fundraising activities will disappear. A truly strategic approach would be looking to maximise that income-generation, not cut it off.
It appears that over 100 people who were already in a precarious enough position will lose their jobs. And the discretionary effort of hundreds more volunteers will be lost.
It is evident that when money is tight, which I recognise it is, the council and the health board have retrenched and focused on short-term savings rather than the public good.
The table in the board paper which illustrates where the money could be “better spent” says it all – to the IJB, acute services matter more than prevention or early intervention. As well as being short-sighted ethically and financially, it flies in the face of all the evidence around what communities need and the rhetoric around person-centred services and prevention.
I would urge you to intervene and stop the IJB making a decision everyone involved will regret.
Yours sincerely,
Anna Fowlie Chief Executive, SCVO
BIG HEARTS: “The value the charity sector brings to our local communities should never be in doubt.”
VOLUNTARY HEALTH SCOTLAND:
VHS Chief Executive @MistryTej has commented on the recent cuts being proposed by Edinburgh IJB.
What will it take for recognition of the crucial work the third sector are doing to reduce health inequalities?
Along with the rest of the sector we are extremely concerned by the proposed early cessation of EIJB grant funding to 64 voluntary sector organisations. As well as the loss of important services and the associated job losses, this will impact volunteering.
Volunteers are at the heart of the affected organisations, contributing 206,000 hours of support to people in the community worth over £2m. These volunteering opportunities are not only a lifeline to people they help support.
They also enable local people to be active in their communities, build confidence, develop skills, reduce isolation – all of which contribute to better health outcomes for volunteers themselves.
The impact of the loss of these volunteering opportunities cannot be understated.
LIVING RENT:
64 charities are at the risk of closure due to £4.5 million worth of proposed cuts. This will have devastating effects for tenants, for workers and for communities across Edinburgh.
Let’s defend our community centres, services & jobs.
Join us to say NO to Labour-led cuts!
SCOTT ARTHUR MP:
I have today (Wednesday) written to the Cheif (sic) Officer of the EIJB opposing the proposed cuts to the third sector in my constituency – I expressed my concerns in the strongest possible terms.
I support @cllrcammyday fully in his call for fair funding for Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Integration Joint Board meets TOMORROW (Friday 1 December) in the Dean of Guilds Room at The City Chambers at 10am.
The following organisations will make their case against the cuts at the meeting:
