Work Programme leaves charity subcontractors vulnerable to financial risk

Charities involved in the Work Programme are not being adequately shielded from financial risk, according to a survey of over 100 voluntary sector sub-contractors released today.

Members of the special interest group for Work Programme sub-contractors are voicing concerns that the welfare-to-work initiative in its current form could threaten the sustainability of many voluntary sector providers.  Seventy-nine per cent of respondents said that their prime contractor (the organisations appointed to lead on delivering the service contracts) was not shielding them from risk at all (58 per cent) or only to a small extent (21 per cent).

The group, which is run by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), is meeting Employment Minister Chris Grayling today to air their concerns and suggest steps to ensure that the sector is involved fully and fairly within the Work Programme.

The survey also highlights a lack of faith in the Merlin Standard, a code of conduct for ensuring that subcontractors are treated fairly by their prime contractor partners.  Seventy-one per cent said that they did not think the Standard is adequately regulating prime contractor behaviour (39 per cent answered ‘not at all’, 32 per cent ‘not really’).

Many subcontractors have also fed back that they are not satisfied with the level of Work Programme referrals they have received from their prime contractor.  Fifty-eight per cent of Tier 1 Providers and 72 per cent of Tier 2 Providers said they were not at all satisfied with the current level of referrals.

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of NCVO, said: ‘The prime contractor model is supposed to safeguard small providers from financial risk, but these findings suggest it is currently falling far short of expectations.  Voluntary organisations have real value and expertise to offer, so it is crucial to ensure that the sector is involved fully and fairly in the Work Programme. Government must take these concerns on board and ensure that no bad practice is allowed to slip through the net.’

For more information and a copy of the survey, contact Mandy Murphy in NCVO’s press office on 020 7520 2469 or email mandy.murphy@ncvo-vol.org.uk. For calls outside office hours, please ring 07714 243942.

Notes to editors:

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) www.ncvo-vol.org.uk is the umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England, with sister councils in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  NCVO has over 8,400 members, ranging from large national bodies to community groups, volunteer centres, and development agencies working at a local level. With over 280,000 staff and over 13 million volunteers working for our members, we represent and support almost half the voluntary sector workforce.

The NCVO special interest group for Work Programme sub-contractors represents voluntary and community organisations involved in the Government’s new welfare-to-work initiative.  The group enables sub-contractors to share their experiences, provides information and advice, and enables NCVO to feed their concerns to Government. The group is open to all voluntary organisations who act as sub-contractors in the Work Programme, and there are currently 110 organisations in its membership.