Speaking at the NCVO’s main fringe event, What role for charities after the next election? Stuart Etherington, chief executive, said: “The next government needs to have a much broader agenda for charities and voluntary organisations, which embraces voluntary action as a means of providing support for the most marginalized individuals and communities.

“Politicians must recognise that many charities, particularly small local organisations, play an essential role in communities throughout the UK without ever being likely to participate in public service delivery. While we applaud the progress made in securing full cost recovery and more stable statutory funding relationships, political support for the voluntary sector must go beyond its role as an alternative supplier of public services.”

According to the NCVO’s 2004 Voluntary Sector Almanac, the sector’s single biggest source of income is government funding which makes up 37% of its total income and is largely the result of larger charities being paid for delivery of services such as health, training, education and care. While the income of these charities has grown, the financial status of smaller charities, which receive just 11% of their income from government, has decreased.

The proposal is one of several from the NCVO’s draft Election Manifesto, within which the organisation also calls on the next government to lend stronger support to charities’ role in helping community cohesion and encouraging civil engagement.

Further details of the Manifesto will be previewed at all three party conferences. It will then be put out to consultation by the sector, with the official launch scheduled to take place at the NCVO Annual Conference in February 2005.