London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – At a Locality conference, Andy Burnham, Manchester mayor, pushes for devolved job support and core funding to empower the charity sector’s role in employment assistance.
Mayor Andy Burnham said yesterday at an event that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should decentralize its employment support system, suggesting that charities receive a core budget to deliver these services instead.Â
Andy was re-elected as a Mayor of Manchester for a third term in May. He initially promised to work toward the devolution of the employment system in his campaign manifesto, though he did not outline any specific plans for the charity sector.
At the Locality conference in Manchester, Andy burham insisted that national and local governments must “start backing” the charity sectors with core funding to help it operate without the burden of financial insecurity.
This year, 2024, is completely different from when he was in his previous tenure in government, Andy said, “It’s time to reimagine the British state, and the way it works, and its relationship with communities and the sectors that support those communities.
He added, “Whether we like it or not, the voluntary welfare state is going to be here for the long haul”.
During an event at the Locality conference, he urged the government for more action to empower charities and move away from the past administration for treating the sector “at arm’s length” , a mindset which he said influenced both national and local government policies.
“Whitehall silos”, Andy Burnham said, are only able to see “part of a person”. This limited view prevents them from fully understanding or supporting the causes of many society organizations, failing to provide the support required to empower the locality.Â
While speaking directly to a crowd of 500 charity staff and trustees, Bruhmna stated, “You spend your time bidding – imagine if you didn’t have to do that because you were just trusted to deliver? Imagine the difference that that would make”.
He added, “What does government – national and local – need to do? Let me make it really plain it simple: it needs to start backing you all with core funding. Not project funding, core funding. Give people the money that you need to build in your communities and so you can do what you do, day in day out, without constantly looking over your shoulder, worrying about sustaining your organisation and the people you employ”.
He received massive applause and cheers of agreement from the audience as response to his statement.
He went on to criticize the DWP and its employment support system as someone who “is actually working against us. It damages peoples’ wellbeing, their mental health […] and then you have to pick up the pieces”.
By referencing the current DWP welfare model as one that ““sees the worst in people, it doesn’t see the best in people, and the charity sector as it views the public by “by instinct”.
Bruhman insisted that more responsibility and power will be given to the community organizations instead of the national and local government when it comes to helping people in the job sector.
He added, “We are calling for devolution of employment support”.
Further, he spoke to audience and said, “The money – around £6bn currently spent through large corporates providing quite a dehumanised system – imagine if that money was the new money that came flooding into the community and voluntary sector to give you that core funding, and with it, came that responsibility to get more people into work. I am absolutely certain that we would all rise to that challenge”.