Policymakers must do more to unlock the potential of British Muslim charities, according to a new report.
The British Muslim Civil Society report, released today by Mercy Mission UK, said that there need to be “stronger partnerships” between the sector and central government to better respond to society’s needs.
It criticised the absence of Muslim organisations in the 16 charities that were recently awarded £1.3m through the Faith New Deal Fund.
The report also called on institutions such as NCVO to publish regular religious breakdowns of non-profit organisations so that Muslim charities can better understand how they fit into the wider sector.
Sector needs ‘robust public-faith sector partnerships’
The report said that British Muslim communities are a vital part of civil society, being among the “most generous givers to charity” in the UK.
While it recognised that there is now greater collaboration between faith organisations and local authorities, it argued that “more needs to be done in developing robust public-faith sector partnerships, including at the level of national government”.
“We need to embrace opportunities to co-create blended/pooled finance solutions that follow in the footsteps of Access Foundation for Social Investment’s Local Access Fund, for example,” it added.
The report cited the government’s £1.3m Faith New Deal Fund, which was awarded to 16 faith groups last year. The fund will help these groups develop innovative interventions to tackle social issues affecting the most vulnerable people in local communities.
“The recent creation by the government of a Faith New Deal Fund is a step in the right direction. Its significance for British Muslims, however, has been undercut by the absence of any Muslim organisations in the 16 charities that have been collectively awarded £1.3m,” it said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: “We’re committed to helping organisations from diverse faith backgrounds having recently supported Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) with nearly £5m to monitor and combat anti-Muslim hatred.”
Invest in think-tanks and research
The report recommended that NCVO, among others, begins to regularly document the religious breakdown of voluntary sector organisations in its Almanac.
This, it said, could incentivise communities of a given faith to give more and help policymakers understand the levels of contribution of faith-based organisations to civil society.
The report also appeared to be calling for a repeat of New Philanthropy Capital’s 2016 report on faith charities.
It added that “British Muslim civil society organisations need to further invest in think-tanks and research institutes that develop robust relationships with lawmakers and policymakers, in local, and national government”.
“These institutions should regularly convey evidence-based policy proposals to inform policymakers at the intersections of faith, policy, and civil society.”
Dan Corry, NPC’s chief executive, said: “It’s good to see our work being cited in this report which we look forward to reading. We’re always open to returning to subjects we’ve published on before to see how the sector is changing if we’re able to secure the funding to do so.”
NCVO: Work to improve Almanac is underway
Nayyara Tabassum, a research and insight manager that leads NCVO’s Civil Society Almanac, said: “We recognise the tremendous contribution of religious and faith-based charities to civil society. We know from NCVO’s annual Almanac that faith-based organisations are currently the third largest subsector, contributing 10% of the sector’s income.
“Current trends are showing that income from the government is significantly declining, but this is being partially balanced by the religious subsector’s rise in income. We welcome the data collected in Mercy Mission’s report as it provides evidence of the incredible contribution of faith-based charities to civil society.
“We’re aware that the definition of ‘general charities’ – originally designed for ONS accounting – has its limitations, and are undertaking work to review this as part of a wider project to improve the Almanac process and outputs. In consultation with key stakeholders from government, sector leaders and faith-based organisations, we would be open to including faith-based organisations in our definition of ‘general charities’ given the increasing importance of religious organisations’ contributions to the sector.”
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