Sir Stephen Bubb will say that politicians need to accept that charities “must be ‘political’ with a small ‘p’” as he launches Acevo’s programme for the 2015 general election at Parliament later today.
The chief executive of Acevo will tell members, at the umbrella body’s AGM, that “politicians in Westminster are out-of-step with the public view of charities,” and that: “We should not be put off from campaigning and speaking truth to power by the voices of a few politicians in the echo chamber of the media.”
He added: “It is time for the government – and other parties too – to acknowledge this fact and understand that charities must be ‘political’ with a small ‘p’. We advocate for our beneficiaries and our causes, not on behalf of particular politicians or partisan causes. The adversarial nature of the Westminster bubble can make this fact difficult for politicians to accept, but it accept it they must.”
Arguing that recent polls and surveys confirm that the “sector still commands unusually high trust and respect from the general public” even if they “don’t always know exactly what charities are for”.
Public service delivery opportunity
Sir Stephen is optimistic about the sector's future, revealing that by 2016 its share of the public services market will grow to £25bn, almost double what its share was in 2012 when it reached £13bn.
He said: “Despite the gloom of many commentators this is a huge market, and a challenge we should rise to with optimism.”
But for the sector to provide more services he said it needed greater access to unsecured loans, which currently only make up 5 per cent of the market, and said: “There is a particular lack of support for small and intermediate organisations.”
General election 2015
Acevo’s programme in the lead-up to the general election will be called ‘Leading the Way: the road to 2015’ which will include research about the role of the voluntary sector and culminate in the publication of a manifesto for the voluntary sector on 1 January 2015.
Bubb said: “In the 2015 election we can and will ensure that, regardless of which political party or parties end up holding office, the voluntary sector emerges as the winner.”
