ACROSS the board the charity and voluntary sectors are under tremendous pressure. It is a worrying development, then, to read the latest findings of a Scottish Government report that examines the provision of early years intervention support for vulnerable children and families.

The picture it paints is of a sector facing myriad challenges, both internal and external, despite the proven success of the support structure it has been providing for beneficiaries. At precisely the moment when austerity measures are taking their toll on the most vulnerable in our community, the report highlights how early intervention services are seeing drastic funding cuts.

The Early Years Change Fund was established in 2011 as a partnership of the Scottish Government, local government and the NHS. It was set up as part of a programme aimed at taking significant steps towards delivering a joint commitment prioritising the early years of children’s lives by ensuring early intervention and prevention measures to safeguard them. Turning around the lives of people affected by complex and often ingrained social problems is in itself a difficult enough task.

As the latest report reveals, this has been made all the more daunting by the working climate within the charity sector’s own parameters. Just as global charities operate in a fiercely competitive environment, so too do those whose work focuses on the early years intervention sphere. Charity staff and workers point to a massive increase in competition between organisations for an ever-dwindling pot of supporting finance and resources. This has led to what has been described as “an absolutely cut-throat competitive environment”. In what is tantamount to turf wars, individual organisations find themselves concentrating more on protecting their own interests at the expense of the job in hand. This rivalry has not only resulted in enormous tension within the sector, it has also seriously undermined potential partnerships and the collaboration often crucial to delivering the most effective service to beneficiaries.

So bad are relations, says one insider, that in certain instances it has led to “unpleasant dust-ups” between organisations. Such rivalry is not only restricted to funding, it can also extend to clients in the shape of the vulnerable families organisations compete to have on their books. Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect to the internal wrangling is the threat it poses to a programme with an otherwise largely successful track record. It would seem short-sighted, to say the least, to put this and those beneficiaries it supports in jeopardy.

In the case of many vulnerable individuals and families, early years intervention has succeeded in relieving the pressure and provided the necessary degree of security and stability. According to one Scottish Government policy worker, the scale and reach of organisations involved is often underestimated, while charities often “undersell” the significance of their role. The challenge facing the early years programme is not unique in today’s charity sector. It is, however, yet another troubling sign of the impact funding cuts have and the internal disruption they exacerbate.