Improving Government funding practice
We're working to improve government's funding and accountability arrangements with community and voluntary organisations.
Background
Over the past two decades, Government funding practice has sharpened its focus on accountability. Over 90% of all public funding to community and voluntary groups is now being paid as a contract for service. Many community and voluntary sector organisations report that the contracting culture is counter-productive and undermines the potential for strong working relationships between government and the sector.
We're working to improve government's funding and accountability arrangements with community and voluntary organisations. This work will build on initiatives undertaken in other parts of government to improve funding processes to better support communities, hapu and iwi and deliver value for money. This OCVS-led project will have wide application across all government agencies that fund the community and voluntary sector.
This project takes a whole-of-government and whole-of-sector approach to government funding practice and will enable community people and officials to shape issues and good practice.
Code of Funding Practice
The collaborative work of the OCVS, Standards NZ and a network of community and government people with funding expertise has led to the development of a Code of Funding Practice.
The Code of Funding Practice will help government funders and non-profit organisations work together when using public funds to benefit communities. The voluntary Code of Funding Practice contains seven core code areas, each accompanied by a set of criteria, success indicators and examples of good practice.
The Code of Funding Practice was published online and launched by the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector on 1 October 2010, with additional online resources to support its implementation to be added in coming months.
More than $3 billion of public money is provided annually to the non-profit sector - for services and activities as diverse as aged care, mental health, care and protection of children, sports, the arts, conservation and international aid. Although most of the 97,000 non-profit organisations in New Zealand receive no government funding, those that do require fit-for-purpose funding arrangements so they can achieve good outcomes for communities and make good use of public resources.
The Code of Funding Practice complements official guidance from the Treasury and the Office of the Auditor-General, and will help parties to understand each other's motivations and purpose. The Code of Funding Practice is not prescriptive, but addresses behaviours that will lead to more productive relationships - focusing on improving trust and achieving outcomes.
Months of work went into development of the Code of Funding Practice. The OCVS and Standards NZ held a series of interviews with government and non-profits to inform the initial draft. In April, Standards NZ sought input via public consultation. The Code of Funding Practice was refined based on responses to the consultation, and the funding and accountability network and various government agencies helped to finalise content this month.
The OCVS hopes to run a Good Practice in Action seminar based around the Code of Funding Practice later in 2010. Enquires about the Code of Funding Practice can be directed to OCVS
