Stuart Andrew was appointed minister for civil society in November last year by new prime minister Rishi Sunak, following Lord Kamall’s brief stint in the role.
In March, charities were thrilled to see the Treasury pledge over £100m to support the sector during the cost-of-living crisis.
With £70.9m of the funding open for applications from charities today, Civil Society sat down with the minister to ask about his current priorities and whether more support for the sector is needed.
Funding offers charities ‘a bit of breathing space’
In 2020, the government announced £750m of emergency funding for the sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In March this year, the government announced that charities and social enterprises would receive £31m from dormant assets.
Today’s £70.9m announcement covers most of a £101.5m funding pot announced in the spring budget.
“I don’t think government can be there to fund charities throughout – of course they can’t,” says Andrew.
“But I think what we’ve demonstrated is that through the pandemic with that money, through this moment now with the difficulties with the cost-of-living and the package that we’re announcing today and with the dormant assets, it shows we’ve listened, and we’re on their side and will act when the need is there.
“I think this will go a long way to helping those organisations. I think it will certainly give them a bit of breathing space.”
Andrew says the government’s energy bills subsidy schemes for charities and businesses as well as Sunak’s pledge to halve inflation would also help the sector.
“If we get those energy bills down, if we can get the inflation down, it just gives charities the chance to get back on their feet again, but this fund is available as sort of a stepping stone towards that.”
Funding to help charities ‘cope better’
Andrew says today’s funding announcement, in which charities providing “critical services” can apply for grants of up to £75,000, would “help them cope better with the increased demand they have been seeing”.
“One of the loud things I heard right at the very beginning [of my time in the role] was those charities that were providing services to people around provision of food, or warmth, or housing or advice on finances were really struggling, because they particularly were seeing an uptick in their level of need.
“We spent a fair bit of time trying to put the package together, spoke to the Treasury, and were delighted when we got the money. I’d say everybody’s been working so flat out to try and get this to the point where we’re at today.
“Charities can start applying for it and we can get the money to them as quickly as possible. It feels really good that this package is coming to help them.
“[Charities’] response to the cost-of-living crisis makes them invaluable at getting help to people who need it quickly. If we were to try and do this just through government, I don't think we could be as responsive.”
Andrew worked in the charity sector for 16 years before joining parliament. He says when he worked in hospices, he admired their ability to “adapt to individual needs really quickly”, which he says applies to community organisations “working in those trenches day in and day out”.
Measuring the success of the fund
Andrew says his department will be working with its delivery partner the National Lottery Community Fund to do a “proper evaluation” of the £70.9m fund.
He could not say when the evaluation will take place, but assured that “it’ll be an ongoing process”.
When asked if charities can feedback on the fund, Andrew says: “I would certainly envisage that will be the case.
“I’ve tried to engage with the sector as much as possible, I like to listen to what they’re saying. Yet if they’ve got suggestions about how things could be improved, of course, we’d love to hear from them.
“I should say that we have actually been working very closely with the sector on developing this programme. So they’ve had a lot of input, even before we’ve launched today. Thanks to their help we’ve got to where we are.”
Managing a large brief
Besides being civil society minister, Andrew also holds the briefs for tourism, sport, youth, ceremonials, events including Eurovision, arts and heritage in the Commons.
His brief expanded further to include gambling and lotteries this March and he is also the minister for equalities.
When asked how he ensures civil society receives enough attention, he says: “I like to think that I’m a hard worker and put the hours in where needed and having worked in the sector it gets into your soul.
“So, I want to focus on it, and I want to provide the help where I can. I like to listen to the issues that they raise and think about how we may be able to solve them.
“I certainly hope that the sector feels that they’re getting enough of my time because it is really important to me.
“I always think if we tried to put a value on what charities provide to the country that it would be eye-watering, and that’s why it’s important to invest time with them, because they provide so much across a very broad range of services.”
He added that the partnership between government and civil society is “what makes this country great” and “makes for a better society”.
Being an accessible minister
Andrew says being an accessible charities minister is something he feels strongly about.
He says he has regular meetings, goes to conferences and workshops and visits charities, which is “the best bit of the job, because you get to see what they’re delivering.”
A focus for him is “checking on what the priorities of the sector and for me [are and] to work closely with them on trying to resolve those when we can”.
But his biggest priority, he says, is delivering the new funding to the sector “as quickly as possible”.
“I cannot praise everybody enough for the pace at which they’ve done this. Distributing government money isn't always straightforward. But they’ve really worked at pace to do that.”
Charity campaigning
Chair of the Charity Commission Orlando Fraser urged charities to campaign with “tolerance and kindness” last year, which drew concern from some figures in the sector.
However, Andrew agrees with Fraser that issues should be debated in a tolerant way.
“That’s not just charities,” he says. “I think that more broadly, sometimes debate gets too toxic, and then you lose focus on the actual issue. It becomes about the toxicity of the debate rather than the issue at hand. So, I do think Orlando’s right.
“[Charities] can be challenging to government. Sure, they should be. Through challenges to governments of all colours you’ve seen changes being made for the better for the people that they represent.
“I have no issue with them lobbying hard and campaigning hard. But I like to treat everybody with respect and I expect that from everybody else.”
Support for small charities
In the last two years, the Small Charities Coalition and Foundation for Social Improvement (FSI) have closed. NCVO has since taken over some of their services.
Asked if government could help to fill in the gaps for small charity provision, Andrew says: “I wouldn’t always say the government should step in, because actually the charities’ independence is really important.
“And if government starts stepping in all the time, then I worry about that flexibility. But wherever there is extra need for support and help, then I’m open to ideas and suggestions.”
Andrew has been the MP for Pudsey since 2010, but at the next general election the constituency will no longer exist as it is being broken up.
When asked if he’ll run as an MP again, he says: “I’d love to carry on so I'll probably start applying.”
