According to The Charity Commission, there are a total of 185,000 registered charities in the UK, each helping soothe the pressure on central government to reach local needs and providing and integral part of UK’s society. Keir Starmer’s speech to the Civil Society Summit outlined the vitality of charities in the UK, providing food for local communities and helping people back into work (Prime Minister’s Office, 2025). Along with the government, both sectors seem to provide their benefits; charities help the local initiatives, and the government ensures they can continue working.
However, the ever-present cost of living, coupled with the long-term effects of COVID-19 and rising inflation, brings a bane to charity funding in numerous ways, stifling the ability of non-profits to pertain and increasing reliance on government funding. Findings from ‘The Road Ahead 2025’ highlight that one in four charities relied on cash reserves in the pandemic. Many organisations have already cut back on costs, and according to the Charities Aid Foundation’s annual report the British Public’s spending has reached an all-time low since beginning in 2016.
Tensions between charities and government arise when we see that central government funding decreased by 33% from 2022 to 2023, and according to the Association of Charitable Foundations (2026), philanthropic funding actually overtook government grant-taking for non-profits in 2025. According to the NCVO (2025), the government’s 2025 spending review indicates that elevated pay costs induced by changes to National Insurance contributions will not be reimbursed by the government which will further target low-wage workers -a large component of non-profits in the UK.
Even overseas, aid towards development projects has faced significant cuts. Whilst the United Kingdom still remains the third largest contributor of official development assistance in 2025, all countries involved have reduced their allowance (OECD, 2026). The reductions catalyse an already-minimal allowance for overseas NGOs, potentially impeding adequate relief efforts needed for increasing environmental crises or humanitarian conflicts.
So where does this leave the public-private sector relationship and what can be done? Although a bleak image, solidarity and partnership between all sectors is vital to alleviate the blunders of changing fiscal problems. Burnham’s coronation as Prime Minister is perhaps an indicator of hope for the public sector, promising to host a summit of stakeholders including charities and businesses to help end rough sleeping. Burnham’s commitment to the cause, as exemplified by his priorities both as Mayor in Manchester and Prime Minister, pledging 15% of his salary to end rough sleeping (Laville, S. in The Guardian, 2026), surely point towards a translation of priorities from local to central government.
Furthermore, viewing the public and private as cohesive, not separate entities will help civil society uphold a beneficial relationship with the government, a kind of mutually reinforced partnership. This may involve giving local charities a larger platform, or creating partnerships between corporates and civil society. This relationship should be affirmed through active commitment between government, charities and businesses. Instead of seeing diverging interests as conflict, it should be used as a method to restore innovation and create realistic pledges. Moreover, government should utilize local knowledge and expertise in designing policy, rather than solely receiving greater amounts of money which may only satisfy short-term needs. This should not minimize a charity’s independence but instead assist the partnership between the two sectors.
Alongside this, a pressing need to act upon hidden contributors which may perpetuate issues facing non-profits remains. For example, instead of solely increasing monetary funding as a solution for homelessness, Burnham should further look to local charities for assistance on issues such as substance abuse and other harmful coping mechanisms which often perpetuate rough sleeping. In a similar vein, Burnham must interact with environmental charities and non-profits to address local struggles over the climate crisis – an issue which he has been critiqued to have ignored.
Clear from the current political context, economic volatility is inevitable and pervasive, but implementing a method of collaboration with non-profits and government will help reform a potentially bumpy relationship.
Charity Commissino for England and Wales (2026) Available at: https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/sector-data/sector-overview
Prime Minister’s Office (2025) Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-at-the-civil-society-summit-17-july-2025
NCVO (2025) The Road Ahead Available at: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/the-road-ahead-2025/
ACF (2026) Available at: https://acf.org.uk/acf/ACF/Blog/2026/mix-26.aspx
NCVO (2025) Spending Review 2025. Available at: https://www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/spending-review-2025/
Laville, S. (2026) ‘Andy Burnham calls on wider society to help end homelessness by Christmas’, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/19/andy-burnham-calls-on-wider-society-to-help-end-homelessness-by-christmas
OECD (2026) International aid fell sharply in 2025. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2026/04/international-aid-fell-sharply-in-2025-says-oecd.html
