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Civil Society Group urges Chancellor to support financial health of sector ahead of Spring Budget

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The Civil Society Group – comprising almost 90 organisations that support the UK charity and voluntary sector – has written to the Chancellor with a number of proposals on behalf of the sector ahead of March’s Spring Budget.

They include support with Gift Aid if there is a reduction to the basic rate of income tax, and protecting fiscal incentives for charitable bequests.

The group’s submission, written by the Charity Finance Group (CFG), which is a member, sets out four main policy asks, which if implemented, the group believes would support and protect the immediate and longer-term financial health of the charitable sector and protect the UK’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities from gaps in service provision.

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The letter states that for many charitable organisations, there has been little or no improvement to the operating environment since the Autumn Statement.

It says that if brought in by the government, the group’s key asks would be of ‘significant benefit to our wider society, as the support for charitable organisations helps them respond to need and increase their impact in the public interest’.

The asks are for the government to:

Commenting on the submission, Richard Sagar, Head of Policy at CFG, said:

“Charitable and voluntary sector organisations continue to work harder than ever to support their communities, particularly those that remain hardest hit by ongoing economic pressures. At the same time, we have seen very few real improvements in the sector’s operating environment; very little has changed economically or politically since Chancellor Jeremy Hunt presented his autumn statement in November 2023.

 

“Many organisations that are doing important and often vital work are finding it increasingly difficult to meet demand for their services. The Civil Society Group is calling upon the government to do more to ensure the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people are better protected, and that charities can continue to provide their critical services.”

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