VSNTO faces closure
Howard Lake | 12 August 2003 | News
The Voluntary Sector National Training Organisation (VSNTO) faces closure next month, threatening the strategic development of learning and training for voluntary sector organisations.
For the last 18 months the VSNTO has been operating on very short funding periods of just of 5 months, 7 months and 6 months. Current funding runs out at the end of September 2003, and staff have been issued with redundancy notices. If the VSNTO does close it will deprive the voluntary sector of the only UK organisation to take a strategic approach to skills development in the sector.
The organisation was instrumental, for example, in drawing up National Occupational Standards for fundraisers. These will form the basis of S/NVQs at levels 2,3 and 4 for fundraising assistants, fundraisers and managers of fundraisers.
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NCVO and its sister councils in Scotland and Wales which host the VSNTO have rejected the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA)’s offer of yet another short term funding contract. Instead they say they will accept nothing less for the sector than a long term strategic funding commitment from the SSDA. The SSDA have yet to accept this proposal.
The possible demise of VSNTO comes after some warm words from the Treasury in its review of voluntary sector delivery of public services. Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said that the closure of the VSNTO will “drive a stake through the heart of the government’s plans to reform public services with help from voluntary organisation.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.