Nick Hurd, the charities minister, spoke at a meeting of the CharityFinance Directors Group yesterday afternoon. He came without minders or handlers and stayed for two hours. He was charming, articulate and comfortable with the detail of his brief as he ranged from big picture, "big society" stuff to the micro detail of tax allowances. He was impressive.

During the meeting he said this:

"Overall, the size of the [public spending] cake will shrink but the slice [that goes to] civil society will grow"

This is a bold promise (although he qualified it subsequently by saying civil society will get more "opportunities" to grow the size of its slice). The problem for the Coalition is that it is not clear how it can enforce this. The previous government tried by exhortation and central edict to force commisisioners in local government and the NHS to give charities and social enterprise a greater role in public service provision, and made little headway. The Coalition is ideologically and temperamentally opposed to central diktat: its commitment to localism and distaste for ringfencing means it has given itself even less leverage over what local authorities decide to do with their shrinking pots of money.

At central government level the picture is barely more positive. As recent third sector experience of the Pathways to Work contracts shows, the architecture of contracting means it is not easy for charities and social enterprises to either win state contracts or when they do, make a living from them. The collapse into administration this week of the legal aid charity Refugee and Migrant Justice - owed £2m under the terms of a payment-by-results contract with the ministry of justice - points to dangers of getting contracting wrong with a sector that for all its strengths remains seriously under-capitalised.

As Hurd accepted yesterday, there is a lot to be done to improve the way government commissions (he has ordered a review - see the Cabninet Office action plan here). He has high, possibly over-optimistic hopes for the social investment bank. But commissioning remains a critical area. Another Refugee and Migrant Justice-style disaster and Hurd's big society promises will start to seem hollow. Hurd will certainly be held accountable by civil society for the decisions made by commissioners - but at the moment it's not clear how much influence he or his colleagues will have on those decisions.

By the way, after the meeting Hurd tweeted this:

"Interesting discussion on #Big Society at special meeting of #CFDG. Mixture of excitement and uncertainty in audience."

That's a fair and accurate report.

On the subject of Refugee and Migrant Justice ...

There's a fantastic blog post by Will Horwitz at Community links on the collapse of Refugee and Migrant Justice and what it means for the wider charity sector. Well worth reading in full. Here's an extract:

"RMJ says they are owed over £2m by the Ministry of Justice, £2m that they cannot find from other sources, and £2m that has forced them into administration. They are the largest supplier of vital legal assistance to asylum seekers and vulnerable migrants, they have done excellent work, they're just not getting paid for it in time. And the victims, alongside RMJ's staff, will be those who have already suffered the most, those who are often fleeing victimisation in other countries, the most vulnerable. The most vulnerable, who all governments pledge to protect, but who are often those most cruelly let down."

Great Ormond Street

The leadership crisis at Great Ormond Street children's hospital trust, triggered in part by its handling of the Baby P tragedy, seems to have abated, at least for now. Earlier this month my colleague Amelia Hill reported that a group of up to 50 medical consultants had signed letters of no confidence in the chief executive Jane Collins, complaining at what they saw as a culture of intimidation at the trust.

Lynne Featherstone, the equalities minister and MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, who has taken a great interest in the trust over its treatment of Kim Holt a GoS doctor who was put on "special leave" after raising concerns over the state of GoS-run community paediatric services in Haringey which treated Baby Peter called for GoS management to be brought to account.

This week, however, an "overwhelming majority of consultants" came out in support of Collins at a meeting of senior doctors.

A statement by Dr Graham Davies, chair of the General Medical Staff Committee (GMSC), the consultant body at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, said:

"At a heavily attended meeting of the GMSC ... the overwhelming majority of consultants supported the chief executive and senior management of the hospital. Some legitimate concerns over some aspects of management have been discussed and we are confident these will be addressed."

It is unclear what the "legitimate concerns over some aspects of the management" are or how they will be addressed. The GMSC has only a consultative role at the hospital and its resolutions are not binding on the Trust.

Baroness Tessa Blackstone, chair of the Trust says she has received a over 120 signatures on letters of support for Collins from consultants and other senior staff. She has given Collins and her management team "complete support".

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