VCFSE Sector Instability: An Open Letter to Commissioners

An open letter to Greater Manchester (GM) Commissioners from the GM VCFSE Leadership Group to call for urgent action for them to support and protect the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector following years of systemic issues that have resulted in underfunding, disinvestment and delayed commissioning decisions, as well as new financial pressures (the recent National Insurance Contributions increase).

We are asking that Commissioners work with us to tackle these systematic issues. We are calling for immediate action from Commissioners to:

1. Adopt a full cost recovery model including inflation-linked funding adjustments built into contracts as standard. Alongside this, where our full costs are being taken into commissioning decisions with a value for money assessment, ensure a level playing field by not comparing our full organisation costs with salary-only in-house contracts.
2. Make long-term contract and grant arrangements. Offer multi-year contracts to VCFSE organisations to help scale up and deliver GM’s Live Well ambitions effectively.
3. Work with the sector to understand and mitigate risks of disinvestment, underfunding, and commissioning delays. Prioritise commissioning decisions that protect and grow the VCFSE ecosystem by mitigating risks when keeping services in-house within NI-exempt institutions.
4. Urgently finalise and communicate their commissioning intentions for 25/26 to the sector.

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