Following the conference earlier this week, Alice Sharman reflects on some of the themes emerging in Brighton.
At the first Labour Party Conference after the election of Jeremy Corbyn as the party’s new leader, there was definitely a feeling of the unknown. How would things change under this new leader?
What next for the Lobbying Act?
The ambiguity around the new leader's policy positions became apparent at charity sector fringe events. Questions such as “What is Corbyn’s view of the Lobbying Act and does Labour still want it repealed?” were met by shrugs from his colleagues.
Susan Elan Jones, MP for Clwyd South, stepped up to answer the question eventually: “If he has got any sense - yes. I can’t see why we wouldn’t, and I think it would be nonsense to keep it."
So if we can assume that Labour still plans to push for the Act’s repeal, what else have we managed to learn?
Charities need more of a backbone
One message that was repeated across sector fringe events was that charities need to stand up for themselves more. This comes at a time when charities have been under attack from all sides over their fundraising practices, as well as that ongoing debate over chief executive salaries.
The message was that charities need to show off the good practice they undertake, and respond to criticism by showing that not all charities partake in the bad practices that have been highlighted.
Speaking at an Acevo event that looked at charities’ campaigning, Guardian journalist Zoe Williams told delegates that charities are “too prone to internalising criticism”.
She said this is particularly the case when it comes to fundraisers: “Chuggers made a really good case for chugging, but charities themselves do not want to make that case because they don’t want to look as though they are part of a financial model.”
Williams said that “you rarely see charities saying ‘we fundraise for a good reason, and we engage with people that are interested in what we do, and know we’ve got a gun to our head’. We don’t hear that, and we should.”
Spend more on self-promotion
Following this trend, Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth and former chair of the Barrow Cadbury Trust, told delegates at a fringe event on public service delivery that “charities don’t spend enough of their resources promoting what they are good at”. This view contrasts with much of the scrutiny the sector has faced in the media in recent times, accusing charities of spending too much money on overheads and not enough on core services.
At the same event, the session’s chair Jonathan Jenkins, chief executive of Social Investment Business, observed that only a small minority of those attending the session were actually MPs or councillors, despite the event being “aggressively pushed” at them. For the most part the sector was talking to itself.
Who is Anna Turley?
The big mystery at the conference was when and where the newly-appointed shadow minister for the voluntary and community sector and civil society would be making an appearance.
It was announced just last week that she would be filling the remit, following a very confusing half-announcement the week before.
However, Turley’s time at the conference was brief. The rumour was that she had not arrived until Monday due to a decision by Southern Trains to cancel all trains between London and Brighton and replace them with buses. Then she was whisked away almost immediately to deal with the news that her constituency’s steelworks is due to close, despite consistent campaigning on her part, leading to the loss of 1,700 jobs.
As a result, Turley’s scheduled appearances were cancelled, so the sector will have to keep waiting to see what her views on the sector will be.
