NCVO Fringe - Conservatives - Is small always beautiful? The role of small voluntary and community groups in building a good society
Monday 5 October
Shadow Charities Minister Nick Hurd today pledged to restore the National Lottery to its original status, focussing on the four original good causes, as opposed to funding Government and statutory responsibilities. Speaking at the event, which was entitled ‘Is small always beautiful? The role of small voluntary and community groups in building a good society’ were the following speakers: Nick Hurd MP, Shadow Charities Minister; Phillip Blond, ResPublica; Stuart Etherington, NCVO; David Mortimer, Digital UK.
Nick Hurd commenced by expressing the difficulties of discussing the sector due to its sheer diversity. Turning to the role of smaller charities, Mr Hurd emphasised their importance, especially in the current economic climate, adding they are both strapped for cash and challenged by current policy. Small to medium charities and organisations will be top of the Conservative priority, he said.
Delegates heard of a recent trip Mr Hurd undertook to a community centre in Carlisle, Government solutions were inefficient and heavy handed in trying to shift the problems associated with the estate elsewhere. Conversely, he explained that a small charity embedded within the community helped to build bridges of trust and had proved inspiring. The state struggles to engage locally and to appreciate the nature of highly localised issues, Mr Hurd stated.
On the role of volunteers, Mr Hurd maintained that a small volunteer base is often the glue holding charities together. He stated that Government simply does not know best, and stressed the importance of civil society in balancing against top down policy. He expressed the need for strong, independent voices to be heard on local issues.
Mr Hurd pointed to a growing dependency on the state, explaining that 40% of income for the sector comes from this area, 70% of which goes to organisations with an income of £1 million. He added that the Government has good intentions towards the sector, but has not translated this policy into a positive change.
As Charities Minister, Mr Hurd said he would question what is being done to ensure it is easier to effectively run voluntary based charities, adding that reports on the ground indicate increasing difficulties. He highlighted bureaucratic burdens around Health and Safety such as vetting volunteers and called for a focus on the balance between the risk there to be managed and the layer of bureaucracy which threatens to stifle people and dilutes energy.
Mr Hurd expressed the importance to the sector of better access to money, highlighting Lottery funding as a major source. He was critical of the manner in which this resource was handled, explaining funds have been used for the Olympics and statutory responsibilities of the Government.
Mr Hurd spoke of wanting to reassert the value of ‘intelligent grant making, and expressed the need to encourage greater levels of charity. He pointed out British levels of philanthropy are high by international standards, but ‘more can be done,’ which tied in with David Cameron’s focus on promoting more local responsibility and involvement, including breaking down the barriers to volunteering.
‘The state’s relationship with the sector is far too bureaucratic,’ Mr Hurd maintained, stating there is too much micro management of process. He used an example of a social enterprise that received 0.5 million from a private owner, and then a further 1 million from a Governmental Department; as a result the Department hired an intermediary to constantly scrutinise the organisation, often burdening it with paperwork. Delegates heard the Conservative Party would trust charities, something which Mr Hurd insisted the current Government does not do.
Mr Blond said he was heartened by Mr Hurd’s speech, acknowledging his understanding of 'the potential of a real civil society.' Mr Blond spoke of the destruction of civil society in Britain; ‘with the rise of vertical relationships with the state, people have less to do with each other and relationships have eroded,’ he said. Historically, Mr Blond said the actions and ideology of the statist left destroyed the bottom of society, and any form of social organisation that was not subject to vertical provision. The working class originally wanted a more mutual model, but Statism abandoned this, he said.
On breaking away from the current model, Mr Blond insisted the sector has to be talked of as the ‘first sector,’ with civil society being the priority of any radical Conservative Government. He called for a move away from the State setting provision and away from the monopolised market, with big companies dictating terms, while changing the political economy and outcomes.
Mr Blond expressed the need to decentralise economic resources, localising capital and trying to find ways to create social bonds. He spoke in favour of the ‘Social Investment Bank’ and its potential to deliver new models of door stop lending. Mr Blond highlighted that people pay as much as up to 3000% for doorstep lending, adding that research showed that effective lending could be at 30%, which is still high but far more preferable. ‘We must deliver the architecture needed for a civil society,’ he said.
Mr Blond called for democratic and social service decentralisation, adding democratically the debate is good and ongoing, ‘I favour radicalisation’ he added. He argued various problematic estates should be able to self-manage their own problems, allowing civil society to manage budgets in order to govern issues such as teenage pregnancy and crime. Mr Blond also proposed public service decentralisation, explaining that he argued for all social provision to be spun out with social enterprise.
He speculated that a big social problem lies with the behavioural challenge, and he questioned how best to create new civic associations of people. Mr Blond spoke of empowering people to change lives in a way never done before, adding that historically civil society has always been built up from the bottom.
In the following question and answer session, Mr Hurd said the vast number of documents that are issued as directions from Whitehall were the wrong basis for any sort of relationship. The key relationship between the sector and state is increasingly going to be at a local level, he said, adding that localism will have to work better. Mr Hurd maintained the Conservatives are the most locally orientated party, but warned against underestimating the cultural challenge involved in pursuing localism. He said: ‘Some charities are struggling with the cultural challenge between traditional and new models, and the social enterprise model will prove important for charities in maximising potential revenue.
Mr Blond said that trust in the relationship is vital and proposed creating a new website for public organisations who receive money, enabling such organisations to list the money received so the public can see levels of efficiency. He also argued there is scope for a rating system, getting the public to interact. ‘Trust is a horizontal relationship, and we need to involve the public in procurement systems’ delegates heard. Mr Blond said that more involvement gives the public a stake and an understanding of what works. He maintained the above ideas can deliver the required cultural change; adding that income from the state would not be growing in the short-term, and somehow there has to be access to new solutions from communities.
Mr Blond called for the establishment of a volunteering website administered by local authorities where people can become participants in a time banking system. This would create effective, interactive ways of building a relationship with communities. Technology must be used to build trust he said, and also emphasised the important of building ‘social norms.'
In terms of encouraging voluntary activity, Mr Hurd stressed the need to empower people, enabling them to see they can make a real difference in society – a sense of which has so far been lacking, he said. Mr Hurd spoke of a huge energy within the public, coupled with changing values as people have reassessed the definition of success. Briefly, he described the state as ‘dead weight.’
In terms of loan finance, he described FutureBuilders as a worthwhile exercise, testing the proposition of lending in the sector but didn't envisage any more public money being invested in it. He said the Social Investment bank may be able to make the connection more effective. In terms of public service delivery from the sector, Mr Hurd called for a culture with ‘as many people bidding as possible in order to boost competition.’
Concluding, Mr Hurd pointed out that £3 billion of funding goes into the sector through local authority channels; a process he said is not being handled efficiently. He expressed concern there has been too much complacency about money flows, and called for much greater transparency from the process.
