Common Strategic Policy 2026 – 2030 (P.75/2026): ninth amendment. Charities and Social Enterprises: partnership and social value

COMMON STRATEGIC POLICY 2026 – 2030 (P.75/2026): NINTH AMENDMENT

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1  PAGE 2 –

After the words "report accompanying this Proposition" insert the words –

", except that on page 14 of the report, after paragraph seven, there should be inserted a new paragraph as follows –

"We will recognise charities and social enterprises as part of the Island's social infrastructure.  We  will  support  their  long-term resilience  and  sustainability, including through leadership and governance development, by building digital and organisational capacity, and by encouraging collaboration across the sector, so that they can continue to deliver essential services and respond to future needs."".

2  PAGE 2 –

After the words "report accompanying this Proposition" insert the words –

", except that –

1. on page 19 of the report, after 11.2 there should be inserted the following –

"11.3  Introduce  multi-year  funding  agreements  with  charities  and  social

enterprises that deliver public services and set out in future Budgets how prevention and early intervention will be prioritised".

2. on page 19 of the report, after paragraph six, there should be inserted the following new paragraph –

"A leaner Government will work in long term partnerships with charities and social  enterprises,  and  prioritise  investment  in  prevention  and  early intervention to reduce future demand on public services and reduce costs."; and

3. on page 19 of the report, after the last paragraph, there should be inserted the following new paragraph –

"While securing value for money, Government will ensure its commissioning and procurement processes are fair and proportionate, apply social value consistently across all tendering, and treat charities and social enterprises as delivery partners."".

DEPUTY H.L. JEUNE OF ST. JOHN, ST. LAWRENCE AND TRINITY

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

in accordance with Article 18(2)(e) of the States of Jersey Law 2005, to approve the statement of the Common Strategic Policy of the Council of Ministers as set out in the report accompanying this Proposition, except that on page 14 of the report, after paragraph seven, there should be inserted a new paragraph as follows –

"We  will  recognise  charities  and  social  enterprises  as  part  of  the  Island's  social infrastructure. We will support their long-term resilience and sustainability, including through leadership and governance development, by building digital and organisational capacity, and by encouraging collaboration across the sector, so that they can continue to deliver essential services and respond to future needs."; and;

1. on page 19 of the report, after 11.2 there should be inserted the following –

"11.3  Introduce  multi-year  funding  agreements  with  charities  and  social enterprises  that  deliver  public  services  and  set  out  in  future  Budgets  how prevention and early intervention will be prioritised".

2. on page 19 of the report, after paragraph six, there should be inserted the following new paragraph–

"A leaner Government will work in long term partnerships with charities and social enterprises, and prioritise investment in prevention and early intervention to reduce future demand on public services and reduce costs."; and

3. on page 19 of the report, after the last paragraph, there should be inserted the following new paragraph –

"While securing value for money, Government will ensure its commissioning and procurement processes are fair and proportionate, apply social value consistently across  all  tendering,  and  treat  charities  and  social  enterprises  as  delivery partners."".

REPORT

This overall amendment makes four separate but linked amendments to the Common Strategic Policy. Amendment 1 recognises charities and social enterprises as part of the Island's social infrastructure. Amendment 2 adds specific CSP action on multi-year funding and prevention, and Amendment 3 adds the narrative that explains it, so the two are best read together. Amendment 4 commits to fair and proportionate commissioning and procurement that applies social value consistently and treats charities and social enterprises as delivery partners. Together they help Government spend less on crisis and administration, and more on outcomes.

Why members should support them:

1. Amendment 1: Charities and Social Enterprises as social infrastructure

Jersey's third sector has over 775 organisations, contributes at least £230 million in economic value, and employs or involves more than 7,700 Islanders, around 12% of the workforce (PwC, 2024). But it is also fragile: 37% of organisations hold less than three months of reserves, and half of Jersey's 453 registered charities have an income below £50,000 (Charity Commissioner, 2025).

The pressure is growing. Donations to Jersey charities fell by a third, from £16.8 million in 2021 to £11.2 million in 2023, and an Association of Jersey Charities (AJC) survey found over half of charities were surviving only by using their reserves (Channel Eye, December 2023). When a charity closes, the need does not go away. It falls on Government, usually at higher cost. The Sanctuary Trust has warned in the past that if it could no longer operate, Government would have to pick up its homelessness support at significantly higher cost. Jersey Cheshire Home needed a bridging agreement for 2025 after warning that any cut to its care would put more pressure on the Hospital (Bailiwick Express, December 2024).

That is why this amendment sits under CSP Priority 7, Improve community safety and Island resilience. Resilience is not only about sea defences, energy and emergency planning. It is also about whether the community can absorb shocks: a pandemic, a cost- of-living crisis, a storm. In each, charities are among the first to respond, because they are already in contact with the people most affected. Strong governance, digital capacity and collaboration help them withstand those shocks and safeguard the public and private money entrusted to them. The organisations that support vulnerable Islanders every day deserve the same recognition as the Island's other infrastructure.

The Chief Minister has already given an Assistant Chief Minister responsibility for co- ordination and engagement with the sector. Amendment 1 gives that work a clear place in the CSP.

2. Amendment 2: Multi-year funding

CSP Priority 11 calls for a leaner public sector. A leaner public sector cannot do everything itself. Government needs to focus on what only Government can do, and work with partners who can deliver well and at lower cost.

Charities already deliver essential public services in Jersey, from employment support for disabled Islanders to homelessness provision. They bring volunteers, donations and community trust that Government cannot replicate. Government distributed more than £30 million to the sector in 2024 (AJC, 2025), within a sector that spends around £190 million a year (PwC, 2024). Yet annual funding cycles are unstable, inefficient and stifle innovation. Some charities learn of million-pound annual grants as late as December.

The Public Accounts Committee recommended three-year funding cycles in 2025. Government accepted this in principle but deferred it indefinitely (PAC, October 2025). Charities described running skeleton staffing structures while waiting for confirmation, facing pending redundancies and even insolvency risk (AJC, 2025). Staff leave when their  jobs  are  never  secure  beyond  twelve  months,  and  every  departure  means recruitment, training and lost relationships with the Islanders they support.

In January 2026, the Jersey Employment Trust placed 38 jobs at risk after relying on one-off top-ups for four years (JEP, January 2026). Planned funding would have surfaced the gap early. Multi-year agreements change the length of funding, not its value. They cut repeat applications and assessments, which supports a leaner Government. The direction of travel is agreed. What is missing is a commitment with a timetable. The Common Strategic Policy is the right place to make it.

3. Amendment 2 and 3: Prevention and early intervention

Prevention works at three levels: stopping problems arising, spotting them early, and stopping them getting worse (Institute for Government, 2024). Early intervention means acting at the first warning signs, before a problem becomes a crisis.

Acting  late is  expensive.  Australia's  2024  Cost  of Late  Intervention  report  found governments there spend A$22.3 billion a year responding to children and young people in crisis, up 47% since 2019 (Minderoo Foundation, 2024). Jersey shows the same pattern. Spending on children's residential care nearly doubled in five years to £10.7 million in 2025, and the Children's Services budget rose from £23 million in 2020 to £33.6 million. Brighter Futures, which supports families before problems escalate, receives  8.7%  of  its  funding  from  Government  and  has  asked  for  a  three-year commissioning model (Bailiwick Express, April 2026; BBC News, March 2026; States Assembly | OQ.73/2026).

Jersey has backed this approach before. In 2015 the Government committed to the 1001 Critical Days agenda, recognising that support from conception to age two prevents harm and saves money later, and set up an Early Years Taskforce (gov.je, 2015). By 2020, Ministers said the programme had been superseded (WQ.197/2020). Prevention has been discussed at times in the last States term, but it does not play the central role it deserves in deciding where limited funds should go throughout the government budget. Prevention commitments fade without long-term funding behind them.

Charities are often the first to see a problem coming, but prevention cannot be built on funding that may stop in twelve months. The Institute for Government (IfG) found that when budgets are tight, acute pressures crowd out prevention, and that short-term funding stops services delivering support consistently. As an example, between 2009/10 and 2022/23, English councils cut real-terms spending on youth services and children's centres by 77.9%, while spending on children in care and safeguarding rose by 58.1% (Institute of Government, 2024).

Prevention needs political leadership. The IfG says it only shifts when politicians make it a stated priority and track it. Amendment 3 makes it a stated priority. Amendment 2 makes it trackable: it does not fix a spending level, but asks Government to show in future Budgets how prevention is being prioritised.

4. Amendment 4: Fair commissioning and procurement

Government spent £444.8 million on procurement in 2024 (PAC, October 2025). How that money is spent shapes Jersey's economy and community, not only the services bought.

Social value is already part of every major tender, but it is not applied or measured consistently. Since 2023, tenders worth more than £100,000 have carried a social value weighting of at least 10% (WQ.13/2024). But Government told the PAC in November 2025 that it does not specifically track social value metrics (letter to PAC), so there is no way to tell whether the weighting delivers anything. Guernsey, by contrast, began work with the sector in January 2026 to find a social value model that can be used across the private, public and charitable sectors, with its States Procurement Team taking part (Policy & Resources Committee, June 2026). The AJC has called for a standardised way to measure it. Amendment 4 asks for social value to be applied consistently across all tendering.

The process needs to be fair and proportionate. The PAC found charities face fragmented contracts across departments and difficulty navigating procurement systems (P.A.C.2/2025 statement). The Comptroller and Auditor General found no common understanding of commissioning across Government, and said good initiatives need rolling out at greater pace (C&AG, R.124/2024). With half of Jersey's registered charities on an income below £50,000, small organisations should not need the bid capacity of a large company to deliver a local service.

Charities  and  social  enterprises  should  be  treated  as  delivery  partners.  The cheapest  bid  is  not  always  the  best  value.  Charities  and  social  enterprises  bring volunteers, local knowledge and community trust, and hold long-term relationships with vulnerable Islanders that a short-term contract cannot replace.

Jersey does not yet have a legal definition of social enterprise. In the States, the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development accepted there is a gap in legislation. He described the current route, a charity with a separate trading company, as clunky and bureaucratic, and gave an undertaking to raise a legal framework with the Ministers responsible for company and charity law (OQ.85/2026). The SEE Enterprise Pathway pilot,  run  under  the  previous  Minister,  recommended  refining  the  definition  and promoting social enterprises in Government procurement (WQ.28/2026). Its final report also said any framework should include funding, accreditation and business support co- designed with the sector. Amendment 4 makes sure that, while this work progresses, social  enterprises  are  recognised  as  delivery  partners  in  commissioning  and procurement.

The amendment keeps value for money at the centre, while making sure social value counts consistently and the process is fair to organisations of every size.

Conclusion

Before the election, the AJC asked candidates to sign a pledge to strengthen partnership between Government and the charitable sector, alongside practical asks including stable, multi-year funding for essential services. 38 of the 49 Members elected signed it, and four more said they broadly supported it (JEP, August 2026). These amendments give Members a practical way to act on that pledge.

The case for multi-year funding has been made by charities, by the Public Accounts Committee  and  by  Government  itself.  What  has  been  missing  is  a  commitment. Amendments 2 and 3 provide one, in the place where it fits best: a leaner Government that spends less on administration, works with trusted partners and invests early to prevent costly problems later. Amendment 1 makes sure the charities receiving that funding are strong enough to keep delivering. Amendment 4 makes sure the way Government buys services is fair, proportionate and applies social value consistently. I urge Members to support all four amendments.

Financial and staffing implications

These amendments do not, of themselves, commit additional expenditure or staff. Multi- year agreements change the term of funding, not its value, and decisions on funding levels remain for each Budget.

Children's Rights Impact Assessment

I consider that this amendment has no direct or indirect impact on children and that the duty to have due regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child does not arise. Accordingly, a Children's Rights Impact Assessment is not required under the Children (Convention Rights) (Jersey) Law 2022.