SOME POSSIBLE LESSONS FROM KIDS COMPANY

It seems difficult to escape the downfall of Kids Company, although many people might wish to. However, as I suspect something will emerge phoenix-like from the ashes, here are some possible lessons for the future from a detached observer:

1. There may be considerable social capital in having complementary health/education centres, run by charities, the state (if Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister) or a combination of both in deprived neighbourhoods which offer a range of free services for vulnerable children and their families. In addition to therapies and support such as meals, these might provide lessons in practical areas like nutrition, cookery and financial management.

2. Such centres should be subject to appropriate forms of assessment so that their impact upon users and the wider community can be understood. If state-funded, value for money criteria should be applied.

3. Ministers and civil servants should be more aware that whilst celebrity figures may be good at attracting media attention and funding to their causes, they are sometimes poor managers and administrators. Having said this, the state and its agents, including the National Health Service, have also shown themselves to be frequently deficient in administrative and management capability, as well as poor custodians of public funds.

4. Unfortunately, the availability of relatively large sums of money for good causes, when perceived to be incompetently run, will attract people who have less than altruistic motives and others who see an opportunity to exploit.

5. The state and charitable sectors are as much - if not more - prone to cronyism than commercial business. This needs to be widely recognised and measures put in place to ensure that people from outside the insidious public-funded networks which increasing dominate British society are involved in how money is spent. Charitable governance needs to be reviewed and some organisations should consider whether they are best served by being a charity, social enterprise or both.

6. No organisation seeking to be sustainable over the long-term should become so dependent on a single source of funding that the withdrawal of this is likely to result in its demise. Kids Company is not alone in finding that the end of public money also means curtains for the charitable recipient.

Media reports indicate that the fate of Kids Company will be subject to inquiries by both the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/82397fae-3dd8-11e5-b98b-87c7270955cf.html#axzz3iJVF60F7 Lets hope lessons are learnt by all those involved.