New Philanthropy Capital (NPC)
Risks in public contracts

Risks in public contracts: Surer funding, a framework for improved public services

Based on research by NPC, published by acevo.

Organisations in the charitable sector are increasingly delivering public services on behalf of government. The purpose of Surer Funding is to improve public services provided by charities and not for profit organisations.

The problem
Often funding arrangements are ill-judged, unstable and wasteful. Surer Funding examines two of the most common sources of waste and inefficiency hindering charities and other non-profit groups from delivering most effectively. These are:

The solution
The report presents a means to achieve change through the Surer Funding Framework.
It is based on new research by NPC, and published by acevo, with the support of the Active Communities Unit at the Home Office.

Who is Surer funding for?

  • charities/not for profit organisations delivering public services, or those considering doing so
  • public funders, including local authorities, primary care trusts, government departments and non-departmental public bodies
  • those interested in the role of charitable sector organisations or in public service reform

Compact Plus’: government response to Surer Funding
In response to Surer Funding, the Home Office published proposals to strengthen the Compact on relations between the government and the voluntary and community sector.
Proposals for a new ‘Compact Plus’ draw heavily on the recommendations of acevo’s Surer Funding Commission, including proposals for a kitemark to reward good practice and creating an independent ‘Compact Champion’ to oversee the scheme.


NPC welcomes the debate around strengthening the Compact. However, we have serious concerns about the proposed solution and how much of a step forward these proposals are from the original Compact.

For further information on Surer Funding contact Martin Brookes or John Copps