Charities Aid Foundation's campaigns manager, Steve Clapperton, has looked at the election manifestos released this week and what they will mean for the sector.
Manifestos are typically the moment in the electoral cycle when political parties unveil their ‘dividing lines’ to try and distance themselves from other parties. With each of the five UK-wide parties having now published their plans, in the charity world at least there appears to be much more consensus between parties than might have been expected.
All parties agree that there is a role for charities in providing public services. Although party views differ on how far the opening up of services should go, areas where politicians see the involvement of charities as particularly beneficial include in childcare, support for veterans and older people, and health and social care.
There is also a shared interest in the potential of new (or reinvigorated) models, with social enterprise, social impact bonds, mutuals and co-operatives being widely promoted by all of the parties, excluding Ukip. The focus in the Green Party’s manifesto on co-operatives is particularly interesting, and will certainly serve as a shot across the bows of those candidates standing under the Labour and Co-Operative party banner.
A desire to get more young people engaged in volunteering and social action also crosses political divides. With the exception of Ukip, each of the parties commits to support for Step up to Serve’s #iwill campaign, and there is growing support for the idea of promoting social action and engagement in giving in the classroom. This is an idea recommended by CAF’s Growing Giving Parliamentary Inquiry, and it is extremely positive that political leaders understand the need to encourage young people to give at an early stage; action that will benefit the sector enormously both in the short and long term.
Political allegiances from the previous government are clear to see, too, with neither the Conservatives or Lib Dems joining Labour and the Greens in committing to repeal the Lobbying Act – although Nick Clegg’s party has promised to ‘consider carefully’ whether it is striking the right balance. Both parties also seek to increase volunteering and participation in social action, with Conservative plans for 3 days a year paid volunteering being the most eye-catching policy in this area.
On international aid, the three largest parties want to see the UK continue to spend 0.7 per cent of GNI on international aid, while the Greens want to increase and Ukip reduce spending in this area. Ukip also want to unpick David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ agenda as well as scrapping the National Citizens Service, and such an attack on some of the Prime Minister’s flagship programmes makes it harder to imagine the two parties going into coalition.
Where does this leave us ahead of polling day? Well, it’s after the election that the fun really begins, and parties battle over ‘red-lines’ to find common ground. From what we’ve seen so far, the sector can be prepared for action to get more charities involved in providing public services, a continuation to meet existing commitments on international aid, proposals to boost volunteering, and a strategy to make sure that future generations grow up giving.
Is this enough? Well, each party has clearly given some thought to the role that charities play in modern Britain, and there is a general acceptance for the need of an enabling government to create a positive climate for charities to operate in. Words alone won’t do the job – the devil will be in the detail, and until we see these policies announced as concrete plans by the next administration it is likely that the sector’s caution towards government will remain.
Steve Clapperton is campaigns manager for the Charities Aid Foundation
