Scottish Parliament’s Equalities and Human Rights Committee (EHRiC) is calling on Scottish Government to increase its equalities and third sector funding support and for all public bodies to look at innovative ways to fund the third sector.

In its pre-budget report, the committee states that the work of the third sector is vital in realising equalities and human rights in Scotland, but how it is funded needs to be reviewed.

These come as a result of a series of feedback events held by the committee across Scotland, inviting feedback from local third sector groups and organisations on whether or not they felt Scottish Government’s budget spend is positively impacting equalities. The Forth Valley third sector came together in September to meet with the committee and submit their evidence.

Using this evidence base, the report also highlights the integral role of the third sector in tackling poverty on the front line.

A summary of the report is available on the Third Force News website.

To view or download the full report, “Looking Ahead To The Scottish Government’s Draft Budget 2020-21: Valuing The Third Sector”, please visit the Scottish Parliament website. (The link opens to the Overview page with the summary infographic; for the full report, click the plus sign on the left side of the screen, next to the word “Report”.)