From Alan Webb, CEO of Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway
Further to my update in April 2025 on the pressures facing our public sector partners, we have continued to work closely with colleagues on the transformation that’s needed in public service delivery, and the importance of recognising the value and impact of our third sector across Dumfries and Galloway.
There have been a number of developments in the past five months or so, including the launch of the national Public Service Reform Strategy, a new Population Health Framework and more locally the new Delivering Change Programme, which focussed on social care and unscheduled care. All of these programmes and strategies lean heavily on our third sector, which is why it’s important that our sector has the time and resources to fully play our part in any change.
We are actively involved in national conversations about the needs of our sector, including being involved in early planning stages and being resourced to do that, a focus on longer-term investment in the sector, and a reframing of public investment to focus on outcomes and not only on activity. Whilst this applies across a whole range of areas affecting people and communities, pressure has more recently been seen in the areas of health and social care.
Working with our sector Leaders Forum, thematic groups and our public partners, we have been clear that many across the sector support the need for change. Our local challenge is that we are running out of time for public sector services to meet the pressing timelines for their significant savings targets.
The Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is facing major financial challenges. In June, it was indicated a 2025/26 projected deficit (before savings) of £56.1million, of which £12.5million related to services delegated by the Council. The current forecast deficit in year for those services is now £6.65million. There is targeted work in place to continue to review all spend across the Partnership budget, a budget which includes investment in our third sector, for carers and carer supporting organisations and for cross-sector care provision.
There are clear indications that there will be cuts to the third sector budget. The upcoming Integration Joint Board (IJB) will discuss the wider budget pressures – you can read more in the IJB Papers (Agenda Item 10 of the September 2025 meeting).
In addition to ongoing discussion with the Chief Officer and other HSCP leads, Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway (TSDG) has recently written to the Chair and Vice Chair of the IJB encouraging the protection of third sector investment. It would not be credible to have launched new strategies where our sector and communities are seen as key to delivering change, whilst at the same time withdrawing much-needed investment. Whilst the funding priorities may change, we must see protection of that total investment if we are to avoid the reduction in third sector resources that are already stretched.
TSDG is clear in its position with partners; our sector is open to a change that focusses on outcomes and impact for people and communities, however we must have the time and resources to play our fullest part – and to take the lead where we are best placed to.
What this means for the sector
Some organisations will already have received notice that will bring existing contracts and funded services to a close. If you have received such notice, I’d encourage you to let us know to ensure we can include you in any sector-led developments on the future of third sector funding. You can do that here.
There will be increased focus across all commissions on outcomes and impacts, and the benefits of collaboration and collective leadership. If you are not already part of a collective group, or your existing contract/grants does not necessarily have a focus on outcomes, we would recommend to you take the opportunity to consider how you might introduce this soon. Again, our team will be happy to support that and share models of planning for sustainability and impact.
There remains an opportunity to influence decision making. We continue to ensure the sector is represented in these decision-making spaces. Your voice is made stronger with real-life, real-time examples of your reach and impact, and also understanding the impact of losing any funding. I’d encourage you to let us know how all these changes may impact you as soon as possible here.
Whilst we cannot advocate for individual investment, we can provide support. We do continue to make the case for investment in our sector, adoption of Fair Funding and the building of a sustainable sector. We do this every week at local and national levels, recently calling on the Scottish Government to increase capacity building investment into our Dumfries and Galloway sector. I’d welcome any further suggestions on what would help you most and you can share those with us here.