“BETTER planning and certainty” is needed from government regarding funding cycles for charitable organisations, the head of Association of Jersey Charities has said.
Marcus Liddiard said the AJC had an “ongoing dialogue” with government, including upcoming meetings “on this particular point”.
He made the comments after the government revealed that a recommendation to review the current funding cycles for charities – with a view to moving towards a guaranteed three-year cycle – will not be implemented “until such a time as public finances allow for such a commitment”.
The recommendation was included in a report by Public Accounts Committee, which contended that the move would “assist charities in terms of financial security and also feed into the long-term vision for government services”.
The Committee also stated that, if the recommendation was not implemented, “relevant organisations may have less certainty about future funding arrangements, which could place key services at risk of non-delivery and therefore impacting Islander outcomes”.
The government has accepted the recommendation, but said the current state of public finances meant that any action on this point would have to be deferred.
Its response cited a “challenging financial context”, adding that “implementing this recommendation will depend on budgets, service and planning cycle”.
Mr Liddiard had previously highlighted that “moving to three-year funding would give charities much-needed stability”.
Reacting to the government’s response, he said: “We know they have got a challenging financial context, but fundamentally, no one is asking for more money here,” adding that charities were pushing for “better planning and certainty”.
