WCVA facilitates the engagement under this scheme through biannual meetings with each Minister, plus meetings of the Third Sector Partnership Council.
On this page you’ll find information about the Third Sector Scheme and the Third Sector Partnership Council and Ministerial Meetings, some of our mechanisms for the sector to access government.
For information about current consultations from the Senedd, Welsh Government and others, and an archive of WCVA’s responses to consultations, please visit our consultations page.
THE THIRD SECTOR SCHEME
The Third Sector Scheme is a statutory piece of legislation setting out how Welsh Government and the voluntary sector will work together and communicate with one another.
It offers the sector formal routes for talking to Government and raising the concerns of our members and service users. These include biannual meetings with the Third Sector Partnership Council, as well as biannual ministerial meetings between sector networks and each Welsh Government Minister. These meetings are among the key tools the sector uses to influence Welsh Government.
THE THIRD SECTOR PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL
The Third Sector Partnership Council (TSPC) is a key mechanism for voluntary organisations to talk to, and hear from, Welsh Government.
It’s chaired by Jane Hutt MS and is made up of representatives of voluntary sector networks working across 25 areas of sector activity along with Lindsay Cordery-Bruce, Chief Executive of WCVA.
The main purpose of the TSPC is to make sure that the principles set out in the Third Sector Scheme are put into practice. It also provides an opportunity for the sector to raise issues of interest or concern.
Elections to the TSPC take place every five years. Current members and the networks they represent are:
| Name | Area of interest | Network |
| Helene Hayes | Advice and Advocacy | Independent Advice Providers Forum |
| David Bowles | Animal Welfare | Animal Welfare Network for Wales |
| Gareth Coles | Arts, Culture and Heritage | Creative Lives (Formerly Voluntary Arts Wales) |
| Andrea Cleaver | Asylum Seekers and Refugees | Welsh Refugee Council |
| Hugh Russell | Children and Families | Children in Wales |
| Chris Johnes | Community | Building Communities Trust |
| Bernie Bowen Thomson | Community Justice | Community Justice Cymru |
| Rhian Davies | Disability | Wales Disability Reference Group |
| Kathryn Robson | Education and Training | Adult Learning Wales |
| Owen Derbyshire | Employment | Keep Wales Tidy |
| Karen Whitfield | Environment | Wales Environment Link |
| Kofo Oladunjoye & Priscilla Addey-Blankson | Ethnic Minorities | Race Council Cymru |
| Selima Bahadur | Ethnic Minorities | Ethnic Youth Support Team (EYST) |
| Anna Brown | Gender | Women’s Equality Network Wales |
| Kate Young | Health, Social Care & Wellbeing | Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Planning Group |
| Ruth Power | Housing | Homes for All Cymru |
| Sheila Hendrickson Brown | Local and Regional Intermediaries | CVC Cymru |
| Hayley Morgan | International | Welsh Centre for International Affairs |
| Victoria Lloyd | Older People | Age Alliance Wales |
| Iestyn Davies | Religion | Interfaith Council for Wales |
| – Vacant – | Sexuality | |
| Bethan Webber | Social Enterprise | Social Enterprise Network |
| Matthew Williams | Sport and Recreation | Welsh Sports Association |
| Richard Flowerdew | Volunteering | Volunteering Wales Network |
| Lowri Jones | Welsh Language | Mentrau Iaith Cymru |
| Paul Glaze | Youth | Council for Wales Voluntary Youth Services |
| Lindsay Cordery-Bruce | WCVA Chief Executive | WCVA representative |
You can find the minutes from recent TSPC meeting here.
MINISTERIAL MEETINGS
As part of the Third Sector Scheme each Welsh Government Minister is committed to meeting with representatives of the relevant networks of voluntary organisations covering their areas of responsibility at least twice in any one calendar year. WCVA has responsibility for arranging at least two network planning meetings to prepare for each meeting, and also ensures that the issues raised from the voluntary sector are of broad relevance to the whole sector in order to maximise the effectiveness of the meetings.
MINISTERIAL PORTFOLIOS
| Portfolios | Cabinet Ministers |
| First Minister | Rhun ap Iorwerth MS |
| Deputy First Minister, Social Justice and Equality | Sioned Williams MS |
| Finance | Elin Jones MS |
| Trefnydd, Chief Whip and Culture and Sport | Heledd Fychan MS |
| Government Effectiveness & the Constitution | Dafydd Trystan Davies MS |
| Health and Care | Mabon ap Gwynfor MS |
| Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy | Adam Price MS |
| Education and Welsh Language | Anna Brychan MS |
| Rural Resilience and Sustainability | Llyr Gruffydd MS |
| Local Government, Housing and Planning | Siân Gwenllian MS |
| Deputy Ministers | |
| Public and Preventative Health | Nerys Evans MS |
| Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health | Delyth Jewell MS |
| Transport | Mark Hooper MS |
| Skills and Tertiary Education | Cefin Campbell MS |
| Other | |
| Future Generations Commissioner | Derek Walker |
Please contact policy@wcva.cymru for more information.
PAPERS FROM MEETINGS WITH THE PREVIOUS CABINET
Copies of papers from meetings with the previous Cabinet are available on request. Please email policy@wcva.cymru or call 0300 111 0124.
THE EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COALITION
The Equality and Human Rights Coalition is a network to enable organisations who work in the equalities and human rights field to engage with each other, share information and good practice and influence policy which impacts on the experiences of people who face unequal and discriminatory treatment in Wales.
WCVA facilitates this network. Please contact Livia Pietromarchi for more information on policy@wcva.cymru or 0300 111 0124.