# Scottish charities & funders urged to feed into Holyrood inquiry on third sector funding

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/06/20/scottish-charities-funders-urged-to-feed-in-to-holyrood-inquiry-on-third-sector-funding/
- Published: 2024-06-20T10:42:49+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**A Scottish Parliament inquiry into third sector funding is seeking views from 
nonprofits and funders.**

Holyrood’s Social Justice and Social Security Committee have launched a consultation,
which runs until Friday 16 August, to understand what can be done now to make the
funding process more efficient, so available funding can be used more effectively.

Every year, the Committee looks at what the Scottish Government could consider when
developing its budget. In response to the funding challenges faced by the third 
sector, this year it wants to examine “how the Scottish Government’s approach to
fair and efficient funding can contribute to the continued effectiveness of the 
third sector”.

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It says that it is aware continued economic challenges mean it is unlikely the financial
outlook for the sector will improve over the short-term.

It also notes that in response to these challenges, there have been calls from the
sector to have access to:

 * longer-term funding of three years or more
 * flexible, unrestricted core funding – this helps organisations to provide security,
   plan effectively, and fulfil good governance requirements
 * sustainable funding that includes inflation-based uplifts and full costs, including
   core operating costs
 * funding that accommodates paying staff at least the Real Living Wage
 * accessible, streamlined, proportionate, and consistent approaches to funding 
   applications and reporting
 * timely process and payments
 * partnership between the funder and funded organisation

It now wants to hear from both funded and funding organisations to help it work 
out how to improve the funding process. Views can be submitted on the [Scottish Parliament site](https://yourviews.parliament.scot/sjssc/third-sector-funding-principles/).

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