Charity leaders interviewed this summer have warned that the Labour government is becoming managerial, risk-averse and incoherent after promising early signs, making progress on key issues harder for the sector.
In a report by Lucent Consultancy, sector leaders noted a positive and “profound tonal shift” from government since the general election last year, with civil society appearing to be more valued by ministers.
However, they said weakness in parts of Whitehall, combined with Treasury spending restrictions, can make progress feel “overwhelming”, despite this administration being more receptive than its Conservative predecessor.
The interviewees, including the CEOs of Contact, Carnegie UK, the Multibank and Cycling UK, added that “negative and regressive rhetoric” intended to head off the challenge from Reform was putting some organisations in an “invidious” position and sowing disillusionment, fear and frustration.
Some leaders, who were not quoted individually, argued that charities must be bolder in responding to polarising public debate.
Strong first impressions
Lucent’s report noted that there was a near-universal appetite among the charity leaders interviewed to give the Labour government credit for making a good first impression with a “proactive, friendly and open approach”.
Ministers recognised the importance of civil society to achieving change, were keen to work together and in many cases shared “passion” for charities’ causes, the charity leaders reported.
Despite the “unique” array of challenges and crises in the UK and abroad that has made getting things done harder, the government has achieved “pockets of success”, they said.
Progress has included progress on climate issues, the 10-year infrastructure plan, housing and social care policy and scrapping the previous government’s Rwanda deportation scheme, according to the report.
Charity leaders noted that good work was underpinned by policy fluency, ministers’ previous central or local government experience and joined-up working between departments and with the charity sector.
‘The sector is feeling demoralised’
But more than a year in, warned the leaders, positive intent and engagement with charities was no longer appearing to be fuelling direct influence on policy.
A common complaint related to the lack of a clear vision from the Starmer government, resulting in a bitty approach that was sowing confusion within the sector around how best to deal with it.
“I feel this government is quite managerial and about the smaller changes and less about the big picture,” said one senior leader. “I think that has left the charity sector feeling a bit demoralised.”
Beyond the lack of an overarching narrative, group members highlighted inconsistency on the part of the government – such as “positive words in the [Civil Society Covenant] sitting uneasily alongside the negative impact of national insurance increases”.
“It feels like there’s a lot of contradictions – there’s real engagement and then they make decisions that are as if they’ve not [done so],” said one.
Members of the roundtable were especially troubled by “damaging, regressive” language and rhetoric from the government around areas such as migration and welfare.
“They seem to be letting Reform pick the ground on which to have the battle,” was one remark.
Another noted that public attitudes on welfare reform had become more liberal in recent years, but that the government was not taking advantage of the latitude it had.
Influencing toolkit
One charity leader argued that the sector itself needed to work in a more joined-up way in order to overcome the challenges it faces.
There was agreement that charities need to act with “determination and persistence” and, in the near term, bring their “full influencing toolkit” to bear.
This was summed up through four points – collaborative working, foregrounding the voices of people affected by policy, using both “insider” access and “outsider” public challenge, and building relationships with “fellow travellers” in government and on backbenches.
Thinking longer term over the rest of the government’s period in office, interviewees noted the need for adaptability and to invest in influencing beyond Westminster, working with metro mayors and directly within communities.
There was a “shared recognition that civil society organisations have a responsibility and unique role in reframing issues, avoiding polemic and false dichotomies and creating new narratives that resonate deeply with people”.
