Danny Kruger, Conservative MP and former levelling up minister, said the government needs to do a lot to ensure charities are supported properly.
“There’s so many things that need to happen in government to support charities properly,” said Kruger, who led a government review last year urging more powers to be given to the sector.
He said there is an opportunity for the sector in the community wealth fund, which would use dormant assets to advance “left behind” communities. The campaign, which is spearheaded by the Local Trust, has received cross-party support.
Kruger also felt that government funding for youth organisations such as with the National Citizen Service, could be considered to envelope more youth services like the Scouts.
“The money is there we just need to be more imaginative and trust civil society with how to use it,” he said.
He was speaking at the Conservative Party Conference yesterday, at an event that considered social capitalism and how the social sector can drive economic growth.
The panellists included Michael Gove, levelling up minister Dehenna Davison and more.
Levelling up minister: ‘It’s a really tough time for charities’
The newly appointed under-secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, Davison, voiced her support for voluntary organisations and said the cost-of-living crisis was a tough time for the sector.
She said: “It’s a really tough time [for charities]. It’s so awful that in a time when individuals are under pressure and need those charity resources more than ever that’s also a time when charities face some of their biggest pressures. It’s a natural cycle, but it’s an absolutely awful one.
“That’s why the government has stepped in to provide some support with energy bills to try and reduce some of those pressures. We got it rolled out as soon as we could, it’s not 100% of the answer but it’s something available for the voluntary sector and public sector too.”
The government released a scheme to reduce energy bills for charities, businesses and public organisations from 1 October to 31 March last month. Charities do not need to apply to the scheme, their bills will be automatically be discounted.
Kruger congratulated the sector on campaigning for this change, thanking NCVO's chief executive Sarah Vibert in particular.
Gove: ‘More data on the sector’
Michael Gove MP, implored for more data on impact measurement from the social sector.
He said: “The word charity means so much but I think we need to think about social enterprises overall and community organisations overall as well. Because one of the things we want to do is ensure effective philanthropic intervention so that organisations that are non-state actors can help advance socially progressive goals and do so in a way we can all support and I think we need even more data about which organisations are most effective.”
The act of getting involved in a community organisation, a charity, a social enterprise, is a “good and ennobling thing” he said.
Rachel Wolf: ‘We need to trust civil society’
Rachel Wolf is the founding partner of Public First, a policy agency. She said she felt it is sometimes too difficult to set up charitable institutions.
“I think we need to trusting people and communities to create their own institutions without constantly justifying what they are doing to the state and that seems to be a very Trussian dimension.”
Nick Timothy, a columnist at the Daily Telegraph and former chief of staff for Downing Street, said increasing interest rates could hurt the charity sector.
“The elephant in the room in this debate is the economic policies of the government set out in the mini-budget. The charity sector, public sector, indeed the whole country will suffer if we get these things wrong. If interest rates go up in an uncontrolled way then everybody suffers including the charity sector. The Conservative Party should be the party of caution and credence and common sense, not ideology and economic decision making.”
If you want to watch @michaelgove @danny__kruger @NJ_Timothy @racheljanetwolf and @DehennaDavison discuss the importance of community infrastructure, #socialenterprise and more you can watch below:
— Andrew O'Brien (@ADOBrien88) October 3, 2022
https://t.co/bNtpYySbVs via @ConHome
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