Written by Beth Sharratt, Policy & Research Manager at GMCVO
For the past couple of years, I’ve been writing and talking to whoever will listen about what an inclusive economy is and how the VCSE sector is a crucial part of it. Part of the work we do under the banner of the VCSE Accord is helping VCSE organisations understand their role as economic actors with power to influence their local economy, alongside their work supporting the social, health and wellbeing aspects of life within their communities.
I’ve seen a shift in the way people talk about the sector over the past twelve months or so. During the conference season of Autumn 2023 I went to several events including Stir to Action’s Democratic Business Summit, CLES’ Community Wealth Building Summit, GM Poverty Action’s event as part of Challenge Poverty Week and the launch of the Resolution Foundations’ ‘Ending Stagnation’ report (I should have also been at the People’s Powerhouse Convention too but the flu put me out of action for that one ☹).
At all of these events people were talking about the role of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in tackling economic decline and supporting the ‘levelling up’ agenda. And in January, Keir Starmer gave this speech, which continued the theme. The speech, on the role of civil society that Labour would strive for should they win the next general election, was hosted by Pro Bono Economics, an organisation that uses economic analysis to tackle low wellbeing. This in itself is interesting – not necessarily the host you might expect for the launch of an opposition leader’s vision for the charity sector.
Starmer spoke of the sector’s crucial role in economic recovery, saying that civil society was not just “something we can feel warm and fluffy about”. “It’s essential if we're going to get our economy back on track and achieve the highest sustained growth in the G7,”. He also cited the history of the sector, reminding the audience that much of what we now take for granted as public services delivered by the state – e.g. education and healthcare – actually began as voluntary, community-led movements responding to social need.
This joining up of the dots between economic prosperity (or lack thereof) and poor health and wellbeing and the need to join up policy thinking is well illustrated in this recent article from Zoe Billingham, Director of thinktank IPPR North – Long and healthy lives will be the ultimate indicator of levelling up - New Statesman. This all makes perfect sense when you think about it, but the nature of the way that policy is developed is that those making the plans and decisions impacting on the economy do not necessarily understand the complexity of need faced by marginalised communities, nor the best way to respond to that need. Even if there is diversity in leadership or a better understanding of these issues, leaders may not have flexibility to deliver in a way that addresses that need due to factors beyond their control. With the best will in the world, it can be incredibly difficult to shift the dial on levels of inequality.
We have a particular opportunity in relation to Greater Manchester (GM) Devolution to change this, see my briefing and analysis on the latest devo deal. As the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) works towards a single settlement arrangement for the city-region's funding, the opportunities for designing programmes with a tailored, holistic approach should grow. The Greater Manchester Strategy, the aims of which will provide the metrics used to measure GM’s progress towards its ambitions, is bold in the way it recognises inequality as a result of discrimination. In theory, the single settlement gives GM the chance to link plans related to housing, decarbonisation, economic growth, work, skills and transport. These plans won’t be successful without the VCSE sector and we’ll continue to work with Accord partners to ensure that the contribution of sector is considered at every step along the way.
Further to this, GMCVO believes we cannot achieve change without focusing on cause. Discrimination shapes life chances and too much policy focuses on symptoms, ‘fixing’ harm already caused by systems and structures that hold people back. Through our social investment funds we're helping new community enterprises grow to play more of a role in the economy. Through our support of GM Equality Alliance we're supporting a more diverse group of leaders to have an influence in discussions they've not been included in before. This isn't going to be enough on its own, but we're trying to build wider alliances of organisations in GM that can address the causes of inequality.
If you’d like to get involved in our inclusive economy work, please contact beth.sharratt@gmcvo.org.uk
