Impact of the Recession on the Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector Andy Gray Chief Officer Dudley CVS

West Midlands Voluntary and Community Sector Volunteer workforce of 435,000, worth a minimum of £225m Total assets of £4.08b GDP worth a minimum of £335m Total expenditure £1.15bn A total income of £1.2bn A paid workforce of 44,000

Dudley CVS Recession Event June 2009 Greater number of individuals seeking advice and support (debt, domestic violence…..) Funding and income streams diminishing Increased number of people wishing to volunteer Greater number of clients seeking support to remove barriers to work

MISSION STATEMENT “Dudley likely to be hardest hit” CLIO April 2009

CVS Survey Data September ‘09 *35% reported an increase in ‘service users’ *44.4% reported decrease in income *30.6% reported increase in expenditure *13.9% reported increase in volunteers

Charity Commission September 2009 Increase in number of charities affected by recession rose to 52% for all charities (up 38% from previous survey). Larger charities (74%) reported the greatest impact with 60% reporting a reduction in income directly linked to the economic downturn. Applied across the sector, figures imply that as many as 88,501 charities had experienced a drop in income as a result of the recession.

Local Responses Developed local Resilience Action Plan *Create awareness and support. *Establish a clearer picture of the impact. *Lobby and seek assurance regarding future spending cuts. *Further develop quality volunteering opportunities. Supported Dudley Means Business

CAB Perspective Higher demand – 20% Complex enquiries – redundancy, benefits, debt, housing. Threat of losing home Stress related problems Relationship breakdown Increased domestic violence

Increased demand – offering more access whilst ensuring that those in greatest need, the most vulnerable are supported effectively Our response - recruitment of more volunteers 7 University Law Students in the Summer 18 new trainees in October Aim to have more capacity – increase opening hours, more telephone resource CAB Response

Impact on CAB Issue = buildings– enough interview rooms Issue = enough Supervisor resource to run advice sessions and for quality assurance. Issue = Identifying funding for core service Investment income dropped by 85%

Next Steps Giving the best possible service with resources we have. Identifying Opportunities to support the bureaux service Working together – partnership working is key. No quick fix – longer term investment – joined up thinking across sectors.