Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has unveiled plans for a “place-based philanthropy strategy” during a meeting of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee this week, at which she also discussed charities’ right to campaign and financial pressures on the sector.
Addressing members of the parliamentary committee yesterday, Nandy said she had asked the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to work up a place-based philanthropy strategy, acknowledging that she had been “really struck by some of the work the previous government did”.
Citing examples of former residents of communities such as Grimsby and Stoke-on-Trent who may feel “very strongly” about their hometowns even if they no longer live there, Nandy added that many such people “are far more likely” to donate to charities and organisations local to these areas to promote growth and opportunities there.
She did not elaborate further on the proposed strategy or mention when it might be implemented, saying only that staff at the DCMS are “working [it] up”.
Nandy acknowledges NICs rise ‘very challenging’
Nandy touched on several other topical areas within the sector during the committee meeting, including the much-criticised rise in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs), estimated to cost the sector £1.4bn.
She said: “I know the decision around employer national insurance contributions was very challenging for a lot of charities.
“Minister [Stephanie] Peacock has had a number of roundtables with the sector to discuss this and how we mitigate the impact, including the decision we make to increase the employer NICs rate to protect the smallest charities, and also to make sure we remove the eligibility threshold so charities can still claim NICs reliefs when they’re eligible,” Nandy said.
The culture secretary added that next year more than half of employers, including charities, “will either gain or see no change in their NICs liabilities”.
She reiterated remarks that the government is “doing everything we can to protect this absolutely vital sector”.
‘It’s absolutely right we have an independent charity sector’
Nandy discussed ongoing plans for the Civil Society Covenant and reasserted the right that charities have to campaign, in a notable shift in rhetoric from previous Conservative governments.
She said: “The value of charities is not just the work that they do directly with people: it is the research they produce; it is how they inform policy; it is how they challenge and hold government to account.
“And we are very keen that they understand that they don’t just have a right to speak up, but they have a duty to speak up on behalf of their beneficiaries when they think we’re getting things wrong,” Nandy added. “We think we will make better decisions as a government if they understand that that’s the relationship we want with them.
“We would also appreciate it if they’d speak up when we’re getting things right,” she said.
“But it is absolutely right that we have an independent charity sector in this country that are able to hold our feet to the fire.”
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