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London Development Agency scraps plans for fund to support sector contract bids
By David Ainsworth, Third Sector Online, 29 July 2010
Mayor's Incubator Fund, due to open in two months, was worth £4m
A £4m fund to help voluntary sector organisations win public sector contracts has been scrapped two months before it was due to open.
The Mayor’s Incubator Fund, which was to be run by the London Development Agency, was intended to help charities build bidding capacity, put together consortia and manage cash flow.
The LDA has been asked to make £44m of cuts, and a spokesman said this meant some services that had been in the pipeline had to be shelved.
"No expenditure has been committed to the Mayor's Incubator Fund because it is still in concept phase and no commitments have been given for funding," he said.
"We have been able to ensure that none of our current investments to deliver front-line services via the third sector are being cut."
Peter Lewis, chief executive of London Voluntary Service Council, said the fund had been "innovative and forward-looking", and would have helped the voluntary sector to support the most deprived people in the capital.
"At a time when the delivery of public services by voluntary and community organisations is being trumpeted as a core part of the big society, it is astonishing that the LDA has cut this fund," he said.
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Golam Morshed, 30 July 2010, 11:41
The scrapping of such a fund will only make negative contribution to the "big society" idea. It looks like that charities are expected take more responsibilities without money.
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Steve Belsey, 31 July 2010, 12:14
I am increasingly feeling that charities are being pulled away from providing professional, service-user centred front-line services towards an attitude of 'those poor/unfortunate/lack-of-forthought and other Daiy-Mail led views' people who should get the sort or charity that ignorant, middle-class do-gooders think that they deserve,and be grateful for being condescended......
We will see.....
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Melow Meldrew, 31 July 2010, 14:37
He helps those that help themselves, that is the big society in action, and god help those that can't. This was the Victorian approach too ! (Next up workhouses ?).[Report this post]
Warren Escadale, 2 August 2010, 12:16
I appreciate these are austere times but it's becoming increasingly difficult to see where the intelligent investment for medium to long term growth is being made. I know the Government outlined key questions \(in the Spending Review Framework) in order to assess spending and I also know that each Departmental Structural Reform Plan should consider the Big Society agenda -- what I hope is that the Spending Review and each Government Department \(besides a cuts agenda) looks at positive ways, intelligent investment, to grow our economy, build our communities and help families to prosper. I'm not sure Big Society is a specific enough question and answer. There's a sense in which it can mean all things for all people without ever reaching a consensus. For me, I'm beginning to think it lacks the rigour of the Government's cuts questions.
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