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Scottish government merges social enterprise and charity teams |
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| 25/01/2008 | |
| The Scottish Government has merged its charities and social enterprise teams because, it says, both kinds of organisation face many of the same issues. The social enterprise team joined the third sector division only last August from Communities Scotland, the Scottish Government’s regeneration agency. The intention is that the new structure recognises the shared nature of many of the issues facing both voluntary organisations and social enterprises, such as commissioning and connecting with community planning partnerships. The third sector division now has four departments that are charged with engaging with the sector at policy level, working with the sector and commissioners on procurement processes, developing key investment programmes and increasing sector support at a local level. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said the merger was also about creating a strengthened team at the heart of government. He stated that the Scottish Government acknowledged that the sector is a key player in achieving the overall objective of making Scotland a more successful country. Despite being on the receiving end of the worst financial settlement since devolution, the government had decided to invest significantly in the third sector by substantially increasing funding. In November, John Swinney, cabinet secretary for finance and sustainable growth in the Scottish Government, pledged £63m for sector development in 2008-11. The spokesman said that that figure represented a 37 per cent increase in sector funding when combined with another £30m to be invested in a Scottish investment fund to boost the sector’s role in public-service delivery. |
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