16 May 2006
Speech by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Timms MP, on the role of the Third Sector in social and economic regeneration
Check against delivery
I am delighted to be here today for the launch of the new Office and of this policy review. Let me add my own welcome on behalf of Treasury ministers to this launch and to the start of a very important piece of work. I want to say just a few words before handing over to Pat Samuel who will provide a fuller explanation of the review.
There is increasingly widespread recognition of the growing importance of the Third Sector in social and economic regeneration. I know that Ed Miliband spoke earlier about the machinery of government changes which we are making to reflect that, bringing together in one place policy responsibility for the voluntary sector, charities, faith groups and social enterprises. I want to set out some of the policy context in which this office is going to be working.
My particular interest is in the Comprehensive Spending Review which it is my task to oversee between now and summer next year. We initiated the first CSR back in 1998, soon after we were elected. We wanted to ensure that spending was delivering maximum value for money and was properly focused on the right priorities.
Since then, we have delivered the longest sustained increase in public spending since the Second World War. By 2008, public spending on the NHS will be around 90% higher in real terms than it was in 1997, and the service will be doing a much better job. Total spending on schools in England will be over 65% higher in real terms, public spending on transport is expected to increase by over 60% in real terms.
The start of the next spending review period will be a decade on from the first CSR, so we think it’s time to take stock, and to carry out a thorough review of all our spending.
To ensure that we really are delivering maximum value for money, and that we are able to respond to the profound changes which are shaping our world.
For example, the demographic change that has been driving the work I have just handed over on pensions reform, with life expectancy at 65 going up by two or three months every year for the past 25 years, and absolutely no sign of that trend slackening off.
Globalisation and the shifting balance of international economic activity towards markets such as China and India.
The accelerating pace of innovation and technological diffusion, and the threats of international terrorism and climate change.
The Third Sector – and the review being launched today – is one of them, recognising that Government alone cannot meet the long-term challenges. That citizens, communities and this sector in general all play a vital role.
We want to understand the priorities for the sector and how Government can support it better. A wide range of support is now in place – much of it set out in the Guide to Government Assistance to the Third Sector which we are launching today. But we know we need to do more.
We want to take a long-term view of the roles of the sector, working out where the sector itself wants to be in five or ten years time, doing this in partnership with the sector. And we shall also be working on the day to day issues that you all face – which is why we’re also launching the revised Guidance to Funders and Purchasers today.
Today is the start of the work. It is being led by Ed Miliband, reporting to a cross-departmental Ministerial group chaired by Hillary Armstrong and to me with my responsibility for the CSR as a whole. There will be plenty of opportunities to contribute.
Thank you for taking the trouble to participate today. I want this partnership between Government and the Third Sector to continue to be a fruitful one. I am now going to ask Pat Samuel, who heads the Office of Charity and Third Sector Finance and will be leading the Treasury input to the review, to set out further detail on how we expect the review to work.
Thank you.