MPs quiz government on social care back-pay bill

Social care charities have been given 15 months to repay an estimated £400m in back-pay for sleep-in providers

Conservative and Labour MPs have questioned the government’s position on the 15-month deadline for social care charities to repay approximately £400m in back-pay to sleep-in care workers.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, asked Greg Clark, the business secretary, whether the government would commit funding to social care providers to pay sleep-in care workers back-pay of up to six years.

Sleep-in care workers were originally paid a flat-rate, but two employment tribunal decisions last year forced the government to change its policy and make the workers eligible for the minimum wage.

This led to HM Revenue & Customs pursuing charities for back-pay, which Mencap claimed could cost the sector as much as £400m, and led to a new government initiative, the Social Care Compliance Scheme, being announced last week to address the problem.

The SCCS gives social care organisations a year to work with HMRC to identify the amount of back-pay they owe, and an additional three months to settle any outstanding sums with their workers.

Long-Bailey told parliament that the government’s proposals had been branded “inadequate” and many charities felt they were “writing their own suicide notes” if they took part.

She asked Clark whether the government would “commit the necessary funding in the Budget to avert a crisis in the care sector, which could see many businesses struggle to survive, impacting on already fragile care services, and leave thousands of care staff without the wages they are owed”.

Clark responded that the interim proposal had been made to ensure a “robust” solution to the issue of back-pay could be formed by the government.

The government’s statement announcing the SCCS confirmed that it was talking with the European Commission to see if government support for the social care sector would contravene EU state-aid rules.

In questions to the business department, which also took place in the Commons on Tuesday, Peter Aldous, the Conservative MP for Waveney, said the SCCS “unfortunately adds to the uncertainty facing the social care sector” and urged the government to “get back round the table with the sector to find an acceptable long-term solution”.

Margot James, a business minister, said in response that the department was working with the Department of Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government to put pressure on the Treasury to provide a long-term solution to the back-pay issue.

Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, asked whether it would be sensible “to consider revisiting the legislation in this place simply to return to the pre-tribunal position”.

James said even if the government changed the law, which she said it certainly would not, “it would not have any impact on workers’ eligibility for historical back-pay liabilities”.

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Government has shown ‘complete and utter disregard’ for charities, says shadow minister

Labour’s Steve Reed says the government’s failure to produce a report on the impact of Brexit for the sector shows it is not interested in charities

Steve Reed, the shadow minister for civil society, has accused the government of showing a “complete and utter disregard for the UK’s charity sector” because it failed to consult charities about the impact of Brexit.

A letter published yesterday by the Department for Exiting the European Union included the government’s formal response to a House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee report called Brexit: Trade in Goods.

The annex to the government’s response includes a list of 58 sectors for which reports have been compiled, but not published, about the impact of leaving the European Union in those areas.

The sectors for which an impact report has been produced account for 88 per cent of the UK economy, the government’s response says, but does not include any impact report about the likely effect of Brexit on the charity sector.

The Britain Stronger in Europe campaign estimated before the EU referendum last year that charities would lose more than £200m a year in EU Commission funding if the UK were to leave the European Union.

Reed, who has tabled an urgent parliamentary question about the issue, said: “The government has published a list of 58 different sectors it has consulted about the impact of Brexit. But charities were excluded. 

“Although the government has consulted the gambling sector and the crafts industries, they didn’t bother asking the voluntary sector. Civil society organisations employ more than two million people, contribute £12bn to the economy and stand to lose millions in EU funding after Brexit.”

He claimed that the lack of an impact report for the charity sector showed the government was not interested in charities.

“The government’s complete and utter disregard for the UK’s charity sector is breathtaking,” Reed said. “When they started cutting public services, they told charities to pick up the pieces. Now, with charity funding drying up, the government doesn’t even pretend to be interested in what charities think any more. It’s a disgrace.”

The DEXEU was unable to provide a comment before publication of this story, but it is understood that an impact report covering the voluntary sector was not produced because the reports focused on sectors that trade within the European Union, not those that receive funding from it.

An opposition day debate on the 58 sectoral impact assessments is due to be held in the House of Commons today.

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SCVO criticises Scottish government for lack of charity involvement in employment scheme

The umbrella body says charities and social enterprises have been ‘sidelined’ in favour of private companies in contracts to deliver the Fair Start Scotland service

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has criticised the Scottish government for a perceived lack of charities and social enterprises among the organisations awarded contracts as part of an employment scheme.

Yesterday, the Scottish government announced it had awarded £96m worth of contracts to a mixture of public, private and voluntary sector organisations as part of the Fair Start Scotland service, which will try to help at least 38,000 people across the country find employment.

The announcement detailed a number of charities and social enterprises that were either partners or delivery partners in the programme, with three of the nine areas across Scotland involved in the programme having a third sector organisation as the primary partner delivering the programme.

But SCVO said referring to many of the charities named as “partners” was misleading, and claimed that the Scottish government had rowed back from its promises to put voluntary organisations at the heart of Fair Start. 

John Downie, director of public affairs at SCVO, said: “The Scottish government promised a brave new world in its vision for employability in Scotland.

“Its ambitions were that the third sector would be heart and centre of the new employability landscape, but instead charities and voluntary organisations have been sidelined to make way for private companies which lack the local knowledge required.

“It’s simply not good enough, and ignores the successful values-driven approach of the third sector in providing such vital services across the country.”

A blog post from Downie said the Scottish government’s referral to many of the third sector organisations announced as “partners” was misleading.

The blog post said: “I think more than a few would have been surprised to find themselves described as ‘partners’ of the winning bidders, particularly as while these third sector organisations have agreed in principle to be in the supply chain – depending on negotiations – they haven’t, as one large charity told me, seen the actual business delivery model.

“This would indicate that they’re not really partners – and they say it’s misleading to say they are.”

Fraser Kelly, chief executive of Social Enterprise Scotland, said: “We find it hard to understand how, after such a thorough consultation process, the vast majority of contracts have been awarded to big private sector corporations instead of social enterprises and charities.

“We believe that this was a unique opportunity to reshape the employability landscape in Scotland and to tailor services to the real needs of individuals to get them back to work. It was also an opportunity to grow the capacity of locally owned and controlled social enterprises and, ultimately, to bin the old-fashioned approach of prioritising bargain basement provision.”

The Scottish government did not respond to a request for comment before Third Sector’s deadline. 

Jamie Hepburn, employability minister, told the Scottish parliament yesterday that Fair Start “is an important milestone in our commitment to providing Scottish employment support which will help people faced with barriers into work, access a fairer and more targeted support service”.

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Peer says a Labour government should be more supportive of charities

Baroness Young of Old Scone, who chairs the Woodland Trust, tells a fringe meeting at Labour’s conference that both the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator put the sector under pressure

A Labour government should build a better relationship with charities, and the Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator should both be more supportive of the sector, a Labour peer has told the party’s conference in Brighton.

Baroness Young of Old Scone, who is also chair of the Woodland Trust, told a fringe event hosted by the People’s Postcode Lottery that the charity sector was under substantial pressure, including a lack of support from the two regulators.

“We are being reviled in the Daily Mail, not hugely supported by the government, the taxman is trying to get as much tax out of us as they can and the Charity Commission has kind of forgotten that, as well as having a regulatory role, it ought to be a promoter and supporter of the concept of charity,” she said. “So we are feeling picked on.

“To make it worse, the new Fundraising Regulator, which we all support because it is an independent regulator supported by the charity sector, has set off on a slightly wrong foot in that it believes in punishment rather than support and improvement.”

Young said that this environment for charities coincided with falling levels of funding from local and central government, traditional forms of fundraising and the EU, and with increased demand on charities’ services and tax demands from HM Revenue & Customs.

Young said that Labour should therefore seek a better relationship with charities and prioritise a “more supportive regulatory regime”.

She said: “It does seem to me that a new Labour government has got to support charities and charity better than the government at the moment. If they want us to support people and services, they have got to support us.

“We would like a much more supportive regulatory regime and get the Charity Commission to stop bad-mouthing charities.”

At the fringe event, the People’s Postcode Lottery renewed its call for reforms to charity lotteries in order to unlock more funding for the sector.

The lottery wants the annual turnover limit on a charity lottery to be raised from £10m to £100m, and the permissible value of ticket sales for a single draw to be increased from £4m to £10m.

These proposals echo similar reforms suggested in a 2015 House of Commons Culture, Media & Sport Committee report on society lotteries, which recommended raising limits on charity lotteries and dismissed concerns that this could affect levels of participation in the National Lottery.

The People’s Postcode Lottery said these proposals would help to reduce administration costs, make the lottery system more transparent for players and increase funding to the charity sector.

It also claimed there was a £39.4m gap between the trust income available for charitable causes and the value of the applications the lottery receives. It said the existing £10m limit forced charity lotteries to reduce the number of draws they hold each year, which reduced the funding available to the charity sector.

Young and Shami Chakrabarti, the shadow attorney general, both told the fringe meeting that they supported the reforms.

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Government proposes large rise in audit threshold for co-operatives

The move could save ‘a couple of hundred’ co-operatives thousands of pounds a year, it is estimated

The government is proposing a large increase in the income threshold above which co-operatives and community benefit societies must produce a full audit report.

A consultation from the Treasury proposes increasing the annual income threshold at which a full audit is required from £5.6m to £10.2m and the asset threshold from £2.8m to £5.1m.

The proposals would apply to co-operatives, community benefit societies and mutually-owned businesses run by their members in England, Wales and Scotland.

The umbrella body Co-operatives UK said the proposal would free “a couple of hundred” co-operatives from audit requirements, which can cost between £5,000 and £10,000 a year to complete.

The government said the proposals, which are intended to help co-operatives and community benefit societies compete on a level playing field with companies, would mean that more than 70 per cent of the 7,000 co-operatives in the UK would no longer have to carry out a full audit.

Ed Mayo, secretary general of Co-operatives UK, said: “We are pleased government has heeded calls to remove this unnecessary extra burden on co-operative and community businesses.

“This is a great example of the practical steps government can take to support the UK’s co-operative sector, which plays a key role in fostering a more inclusive economy.”

Stephen Barclay, the economic secretary to the Treasury, said: “From the dairy farm that provides milk to the local community, to the brewery owned by 10 friends who all have a passion for ale, we want to see co-operatives and community benefit societies across the UK thrive and grow.

“That’s why we’re reducing onerous administrative burdens on these societies, saving them money and freeing them up to concentrate on what matters the most – the needs of their members and communities.”

The consultation closes on 22 September. 

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Government begins advertising for next Charity Commission chair

The successful candidate will replace William Shawcross, whose term comes to an end later this year

The government is advertising for applicants to be the next chair of the Charity Commission.

The successful applicant will replace William Shawcross, who is leaving later in the year having been in post since 2012.

The advertisement for the vacancy, which is published through the Centre for Public Appointments, says the successful applicant will be paid £62,500 a year and will work two-and-a-half days a week.

By comparison, Shawcross works three days a week on a £50,000 annual salary. 

The advert says the successful candidate must be able to support the organisation “through a period of significant change and cultural development in either the private or charity/not-for-profit sector”.

The person will be responsible for leading the regulator’s board in setting the commission’s strategic priorities and policy direction over the next three years, it says.

This is likely to include the subject of the regulator charging charities for its services, something the regulator has been edging towards in recent years and on which it is soon due to launch a consultation.

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate they can be an “accessible and engaging ambassador” for the organisation and “influence high-level stakeholders within government and in parliament, the media, the charity sector and the business world”.

The person must also have an understanding of and interest in the charity sector, “including an awareness of the multifaceted challenges it faces resulting from changing social and economic circumstances”. 

Applicants will be scrutinised by a four-member panel comprising Sue Owen, permanent secretary at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, and chair of the panel; Lord Kakkar, chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission; Julia Unwin, chair of the Independent Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society; and Alan Downey, who is described in the job advert as an “other panel member”. 

Whoever is appointed will also have to attend a pre-appointment hearing before the Culture, Media & Sports Select Committee.

Shawcross, a journalist and writer, has been a controversial chair of the Charity Commission because of comments he has made on issues including chief executive pay and charging charities to fund the regulator.

In 2012, three of the seven MPs on the Public Administration Select Committee of the time opposed his appointment because of concerns about his political impartiality, citing previous support of the Iraq war and the Conservative Party.

The closing date for applications is 3pm on 22 September, and the successful applicant will be expected to serve a term of up to three years.

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Government makes £1m available to Grenfell Tower charities

London Funders will coordinate distribution of the money, and Locality will take charge of another £48,000 from government to support an assistance centre

The government has made £1m available to local charities that are dealing with the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Department for Communities and Local Government said local charities would receive reimbursement for their immediate response to the Grenfell Tower fire earlier this month.

At least 79 people are dead or missing presumed dead after the fire, which occurred in Kensington, west London.

London Funders, a membership network for funders and investors in London’s voluntary sector, will coordinate the distribution of the money along with a consortium of other trusts and foundations.

The new money is in addition to a £5m discretionary fund for residents of Grenfell Tower that was announced by the government last week.

A further £48,000 from the government will help to provide organisational support for an assistance centre near the tower – located at the Westway Centre – and will be administered by Locality.

Six other charities, as well as London Funders, agreed a joint approach with the Charity Commission last week to provide immediate financial support to victims of the fire.

The next of kin of those killed in the fire will receive an initial £20,000 from the more than £10m donated by the public since the disaster, with those injured receiving £10,000.

People made homeless would receive a £10,000 “fresh start” grant once they were rehoused, the commission said.

The charities involved in the discussions with the commission were the British Red Cross, Muslim Aid, the London Emergencies Trust, the Rugby Portobello Trust, the London Community Foundation and the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation.

Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, said: “The residents of Grenfell Tower have been through some of the most harrowing experiences imaginable and the response from local charities and volunteers has been remarkable.

“This funding will mean that smaller charities and community organisations can continue to make a huge difference. The first payments are in the process of being made and the government will continue to do everything we can as fast as we can to support those affected by this terrible tragedy.”

David Warner, chief executive of London Funders, said: “We are delighted that the DCLG has responded with vital funds to provide immediate support to community groups in Kensington and Chelsea who are supporting those directly affected by the Grenfell fire.

“London Funders, along with a consortium of trusts and foundations, is making sure the money gets to those groups that can best use it as quickly as possible. We have now put in place the processes to make that happen.”

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Give charities a clear voice in policy-making, CAF urges the government

In a paper published today, the Charities Aid Foundation says the sector is key to delivering social cohesion

The government should commission charities to improve community cohesion and give them a clear voice in policy-making, according to the Charities Aid Foundation.

In a paper published before the Queen’s Speech this morning, called Strong and Stable For the Many Not the Few, CAF makes a raft of suggestions including a bigger role for charities in their local communities.

“What has become clear is that action needs to be taken to unite people, to strengthen communities and to make sure that everyone feels they have a stake in society,” the paper says.

“Charities are core to delivering this, using their unique expertise and influence to heal divisions and strengthen society.

“National trends remain important, but much of this essential work has to be done on the ground at grass-roots level – the kind of level where charities are already operating.”

It also calls on the government to repeal or exempt charities from the lobbying act, or at least implement in full the recommendations made by the Conservative peer Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts in his review of the act.

Hodgson said the scope of the act should be reduced to include only activity intended to influence how people vote.

The CAF paper says the government should “enshrine the principle of charity advocacy in statutory law”.

Other suggestions include amending the Companies Act 2006 to improve transparency around corporate giving and requiring each government department to promote payroll giving to its employees.

It also calls for more government support for volunteering and says charities should be given a bigger role in shaping devolution deals.

Sir John Low, chief executive of CAF, called for charities to be given a big role in decisions made during this parliament.

“Government and politicians come and go, but charities are the constant glue that binds communities together,” he said.

“During this time of seismic change, charities are needed now more than ever to bring the country back together and help secure Britain’s place in the world.

“This Brexit parliament must use the unique expertise of charities to help rebuild communities, tackle social injustice and give a voice to those who may otherwise lack one.”

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Lobbying act must be repealed or reformed, sector leaders tell government

A letter to Cabinet Office minister Damian Green from a number of sector bodies says the legislation is ‘confusing and burdensome’

The lobbying act is a “confusing and burdensome piece of legislation that ultimately harms our democracy” and should be urgently reformed, charity sector leaders have told the government.

In a letter to Damian Green, the Cabinet Office minister, organisations including the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the charity chief executives body Acevo call for Lord Hodgson’s reforms to the lobbying act to be implemented urgently.

The lobbying act sets spending limits and makes it a legal necessity for all organisations that spend more that £20,000 in England or £10,000 in Wales on regulated campaigning in the year prior to an election to register with the Electoral Commission.

Lord Hodgson’s review of the lobbying act, which was commissioned by the government and published last year, called for a number of reforms, including reducing the regulated campaign period to four months before an election and changes to the rules on joint campaigning.

But the government has yet to implement Lord Hodgson’s recommendations, and the letter calls for a meeting to discuss how the lobbying act’s “unintended consequences can be minimised”.

The letter says: “While we recognise that regulation is necessary to ensure that no one individual or organisation can exert undue influence at an election, the lobbying act has had a disproportionate impact on charity campaigning.

“This is despite the fact that, unlike organisations from many other sectors, charities are already subject to strict limitations on their political activity under charity law.

“The excessive and unreasonable red tape the lobbying act places on charities made it harder for them to campaign at the 2017 general election. Charities also find many of the non-party campaigning rules ambiguous.

“We are concerned that this caused many charities not to engage, resulting in some important voices being lost from public debate.”

More than 50 charities have recently called for the lobbying act to be repealed, citing the “enormous administrative and financial burden” it places on the sector.

There have also been warnings that the risk of another snap election after the 8 June election failed to provide any party with an outright majority means the next period of regulated campaigning might have already begun.

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the NCVO, said: “There is clear cross-party and sector support for the changes Lord Hodgson suggested. Adoption of them will be an important first step for the new government to show it is listening to charities, which are crucial to building a stronger economy and society.”

Vicky Browning, chief executive of Acevo, said: “Charity leaders have told me that compliance with this ambiguous legislation has significant costs attached, particularly in terms of time, labour and money, which distracts and detracts from their activities.

“It is important that the new government now enacts the recommendations of its own review of the act.”

The Charities Aid Foundation, the infrastructure body Navca, the Small Charities Coalition and the international development network Bond also signed the letter.

The letter comes after a report from the UN Human Rights Council that was released two days before the general election. It criticised the lobbying act’s “chilling effect” on the charity sector and claimed it had a disproportionate impact on charities in comparison with the private sector.

Greenpeace, which was fined £30,000 by the Electoral Commission earlier this year for contravening the lobbying act prior to the 2015 general election, said the UN’s comments showed the act was an “international embarrassment” and should be either repealed or reformed.

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