Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Towards a Defra Third Sector Strategy - Consultation document

The document details Defra’s plans to work to in partnership with third sector organisations and seeks comments and suggestions about the way in which Defra can improve upon the way it engages with the third sector.

The document covers a range of issues. It asks how Defra can best work with the third sector to tackle climate change, protect the environment and support strong rural communities.  It also asks how Defra can create a level playing field for third sector organisations in the way they do business, and sets out their current thinking on these issues and asks for our views. Specifically, Defra is working towards a strategic partnership scheme in which large regional or national network organisations are invited to become a partner and act as a conduit between Defra and the beneficiaries the potential partners represent. The results of this consultation will help Defra prepare its Third Sector Strategy.

CEMVO’s makes various recommendations with regards to the ways in which CEMVO can facilitate the communication between Defra and CEMVO’s beneficiaries and stakeholders and the structure and form that a strategic alliance between partners and Defra may take.

Our response offers a number of practical recommendations which we hope will make a positive contribution to this consultation exercise as well as the wider debate on effective engagement with the third sector.

Related Links

• Defra’s Towards a Defra Third Sector Strategy: Consultation document (PDF document)
• Our Response to this consultation for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (PDF document)