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11 Mar 2010 : Column 158WH—continued
There is a feeling that such contracts are now being negotiated purely on the basis of cost, and that the third sector is being disadvantaged by a private sector that can sometimes use the contract as a loss leader, and can then either change the terms or simply not deliver on the necessary quality to do the particular service adequately. The Government need to consider that in the development of this particular Compact.
There is also a fear-or a robust complaint-that there is an unequal partnership. The statutory provider can renege on a contract, whereas the voluntary sector would be in trouble if it did so-that issue should be looked at. Regional Action West Midlands has told me that it is developing a regional procurement framework to be implemented by public sector organisations that would provide a standard framework for that particular tendering process throughout the area. That would provide a template that would be easily understood by the third sector and would remove some of the disadvantages of working within a time frame so that it can compete effectively. I ask the Minister to look at that as a way of taking the agenda forward.
In conclusion, the third sector has come an enormously long way in the past 10 to 15 years. It is no longer regarded as an amateurish add-on to the services provided by the public sector, but seen as a more effective, sensitive and specific way of delivering services that the public sector is not always best placed to provide. It is thought of as infinitely better at providing services in many areas than the private sector. However, the third sector still suffers from some disadvantages. We still need to monitor and work with it to ensure that, over the coming years, its full potential is realised for the benefit of not only the economy, but the services that people need in our local communities.
4.1 pm
Mr. William Cash (Stone) (Con): It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Illsley. The matter we are discussing is so important that I am sorry that the debate is taking place in Westminster Hall, rather than on the Floor of the House. For me, the matter is fundamental to the kind of society in which we live.
Were I to attempt, probably with some uncertainty, to identify the category into which the so-called third sector fits, I would first have to ask what the three sectors are. That has been implied in some of the speeches I have heard this afternoon, but perhaps not quite identified, although we got close to it in an intervention from the hon. Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt). As I see it, there is the state on one hand, which deals with matters of political power, including the Government, legislation, Parliament, of course, local authorities and all the paraphernalia of administrative law. On the other hand, we have another sector dealing with private ownership, commerce, the marketplace, companies, partnerships, small businesses and many other areas that are as essential to the running of a society as is the state. The division between those two is often prickly, but it is important that we have both, because it is through the Government and the framework of the state, to use that generic expression, that one establishes the rule of law. Therefore, the whole of society is ultimately dependent on that as a means of maintaining stability and good order.
Then, of crucial importance-no less importance than the other two sectors-we have what I prefer to call the voluntary sector. I will not mention the media in this context, although some might argue that they have become the fourth estate, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that the media think they are even more important than Parliament. The voluntary sector is vital, and it overlaps with the other two areas in the sense that many charities-I touched on this point in an earlier intervention-are driven by criteria established over many centuries in a very British manner that have now made their way into other countries, more so in the Anglo-Saxon world than elsewhere, whereby charities are driven not only by the state, but by the activity of volunteers. Those charities are not driven entirely by the Church, although it has always played a big role in its interface with charities.
Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent, North) (Lab): Would the hon. Gentleman agree with me, with regard to the role and origins of voluntary organisations, that many of them are part and parcel of their local communities, particularly with regard to residents associations, and that people serving on the committees of those associations, of which we have many in Stoke-on-Trent, are the glue that keeps local society working, so it is vital that we give our full support to the voluntary sector for the work it does?
Mr. Cash: I could not be more enthusiastic in following up the hon. Lady's intervention, not least because she, too, represents a Staffordshire constituency, and we often find ourselves co-operating for that reason on matters of voluntary activity. There is a considerable overlap and I am sure that she is right.
The voluntary sector includes not only the charitable element, but the amenity element and the protecting element. Some of that work is ad hoc and some is long-term. As the hon. Member for High Peak said, the growth of the big charities is enormously important. I can remember when Oxfam, in the days when I was at Oxford, was based in a tiny office just up the Banbury road. Look at it now. The same could be said of more recently established charities-perhaps it is unfair to describe them as such-including Tearfund, with which I work closely as chairman of the all-party group on water and sanitation in the third world, and WaterAid, which is relatively new. I could not recite them all, and there would be no point in doing so, as there are so many.
Many of those enormous organisations have sub-units, to use a technical term, in each constituency, and that is why there are, as the hon. Member for High Peak said, about 250 registered charities in the average constituency. Some of them are large charities such as Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund and the Royal British Legion, with which I also work closely in my constituency, as I do with many other charities. Others are local charities, and some are much older, such as the trust set up by Izaak Walton, who happened to leave some money in his will to part of my constituency. Therefore, there are small, localised endowments, as well as much larger ones, and there is also an overlap with amenity groups, some of which are long-term groups, such as the Madeley Conservation Group, which has done tremendous work in the coalfields, because Madeley was once a coal community.
There are also shorter-term, ad hoc amenity groups, such as those that oppose wind farms. I have four such groups in my constituency, some of which are incorporated and some of which are not-for-profit organisations because they want to have a stable constitution. Others are made up of people who simply get together as an amenity group. I would like to refer to one of the accidental outcomes, although perhaps it is a deliberate problem. It often strikes me that when an ad hoc amenity group protests against a specific local government problem-wind farms are only one example-the people involved get together at a big meeting. An MP such as myself will attend and tell them, "This is what you must do if you want to be effective", which we all have to do. Someone will then get up and ask, "Where will the money come from, and will we need legal representation?" We then have to tell them that they will not be able to protest unless they raise the money. Then they ask, "What about the people on the other side?", meaning the state, the local authority or the Government policy that has driven those who are determined to set up the wind farm. The amenity group will then find that they must raise the money on an entirely voluntary basis. Meanwhile, the state, in the manner of Goliath, provides the QCs and leaders of the argument, such as environmental experts, at enormous cost and therefore has the advantage over David, because the voluntary amenity body is obliged to find the money, and that, importantly, is driven by the volunteer attitude.
The hon. Member for High Peak made that point. It is about attitude, and I have mentioned care and compassion as well. Those people will go out and raise money so that they can pay for what they want to do. I think that there is a strong case for them to be given legal aid, particularly when there is an enormous imbalance between the very big state and the very small amenity society. However, nothing will stop them. They will step up to the plate, just as they do in the other area that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, and on which I have had an exchange with him. For example, in the context of providing care in the community, an enormous number of people do fantastic work, without any expectation of advancement, patronage or financial reward or benefit of any description-this is the fantastic side of this work, and this is what I believe in passionately-but entirely because they believe in the cause in question, or their local community. They are the unsung heroes of Britain, the warp and weft of our society.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned people who go into hospitals. We have had enough trouble with Stafford hospital, as everyone knows-it is a national scandal, not just a local one-but the truth is that an enormous number of people are still going into the hospital to do the kind of voluntary work that he mentioned. That is extremely important, yet it is often taken for granted. The professionalism of the big organisations is complemented by the enormous sense of commitment and compassion that comes from people in villages and towns and in society at large.
We are part of an enormous international voluntary sector. The hon. Member for High Peak mentioned UNICEF, but one could mention another sphere of activity that is entirely spontaneous and which we have seen in the work of Live Aid some years ago, and in our
responses to disaster funds for hurricanes, tsunamis, Haiti and so on. Now, of course, other organisations come in on the back of massive television appeals, so the idea of the state being able to solve everything has, by definition, proved not to be true. It is often individuals who come and provide the ballast that is necessary to solve enormous problems.
By the same token, it is extremely important that huge organisations, as well as the local ones, should not become overtly political. We do not have time this afternoon to go into every aspect of charity law, other than simply to refer to the balance that has to be struck. I believe that the charity commissioners are somewhat too restrictive, as they tend to make over-enthusiastic assessments in construing certain activities as quasi-political or political, when, in fact, the dividing line is difficult to achieve. I recognise that, but I think that in respect of schools, academies and things of that kind, there is a tendency for the commissioners not to realise that we need the spontaneity of local volunteers who come together to provide the added value that committed members of local society are able to provide for schooling or other things.
I know that this is a very political question for Parliament, but it is important that unreasonable restraint should not be imposed on people being able to provide for independent schools if they wish to do so, or, for that matter, to provide help so that those who are less well off can get a better education than might otherwise be available to them locally. I do not want to disrupt the cross-party enthusiasm in this debate by spending too much time on that, but the question of mission and of the objects of trusts is an important one, and we must do everything that we can to encourage more and more local voluntary activity.
On the broader front, I was struck by the reference of the hon. Member for West Bromwich, West (Mr. Bailey) to the Labour and Co-operative movement. I make no secret of the fact that my family were Quakers for many centuries, and were involved in mutual societies. For example, we helped to finance Samuel Smiles. In fact, we found him-my great-great-grandfather, Newman Cash, is reputed to have discovered him in Leeds before he appointed him secretary to the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, which he set up. The Cadburys are Quaker cousins, and so on. There was an extraordinary combination of enterprise and-let us use the word properly-philanthropic thought and attitude. Another example is John Bright and the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers.
The whole concept of this debate is in my DNA, and it is extremely important to the revival of what has been called the broken society. I am extremely glad that my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip-Northwood (Mr. Hurd) will reply to this debate. I know that Conservatives are all supposed to be pin-striped and boss-eyed, or how people describe us. [Interruption.] No, not in this debate, but hon. Members know what I mean. However, there should be no assumption that, just because someone comes from a particular political party, they do not share common attitudes towards helping people at large.
That is part of it: we may have different political solutions, but it is extremely important to remember who created the mutuals and building societies such as the Abbey National, which we founded in the 1870s, and which is now a bank. In retrospect, I am not at all
happy about what has happened to the notion of mutualisation, which is part of the essence of the voluntary and co-operative movement and all that went with it, including mutuals such as the National Provident Institution, which was founded by William Cash in the 1830s. The fact is that we tried to create things to help people- there were no profits for the people concerned. They had other businesses, and the two things worked together. Barclays is another company that began that way, as did Rowntree's-I could go on to list more.
In trying to recreate the circumstances to repair our broken society, we must look not only at what Government, Parliament and legislation can achieve but at how the spirit of voluntarism described by the hon. Member for High Peak can be brought in. This is not a party question at all; it is about how we, despite our political differences, manage to create in society the means of helping to repair our broken society. I shall just mention drugs and drugs addiction, and the fantastic work that is done by those who work voluntarily to help people who are broken by the terrible scourges of today.
Tom Levitt: I am sure that there is accord across the Chamber on the points that the hon. Gentleman just made about mutual organisations, Quaker heritage and so on-that is excellent. However, does he not think, given that three quarters of the population engage in voluntary activity in one form or another, and that there are 250 charities in every constituency and so on, that it is an affront to the organisations and community groups that hold our communities together to call them broken? I accept that there are problems in society-he mentioned drugs, and there are others-but the bonds that hold communities together are far from broken. Suggesting that they are is an affront to those people.
Mr. Cash: I talked about a broken society as a whole. We have monumental problems in society today. I am far from thinking, let alone saying, that those organisations are broken-they are the means whereby society can be mended, to a certain extent, although not entirely, because other measures such as legislation are necessary. The last thing that I would say is that voluntary sector organisations are broken-far from it. They are the means to mend a society that is broken for a variety of reasons, including, although I am not supposed to say such things now, the lack of moral purpose or moral force, which lay at the heart of so much that was good, although there was some bad, in Victorian times.
Alun Michael: As we do not want to break the cross-party consensus, as the hon. Gentleman said, I shall put my point gently. Does he not agree that allowing the break-up and demutualisation of certain organisations was a mistake by a previous Government? He rightly referred to those organisations being set up with both financial and philanthropic objectives, and therefore being part of the binding together of society in many parts of the country.
Mr. Cash: If the right hon. Gentleman is inviting me to criticise that Government, I shall do so with great care, because we did an enormous amount of good in promoting enterprise as well. The problems with the trade union movement-if I may come back with that-had led to the necessity of getting things stabilised. However, that is for another debate.
Let us look at the Cadbury and Kraft situation, for example. Although those are commercial organisations, the charitable activities of the Cadbury trusts and things like Bournville, speak for themselves. So many people want and need that kind of society, in which we achieve a balance between the second sector, the commercial marketplace, and the voluntary sector, which comes third in line-I do not like "third sector" as an expression. That aspect of society is based on voluntary activity, and is not driven by a desire for political power or an insistence on one's own way of doing things-basically, that is what legislation is all about, only within the rule of law-but is based on the ability to deliver good and moral force on the ground and to help individual people as well as society as a whole.
On the question of schools, higher education and places of learning, which was mentioned, I repeat that the voluntary sector very much needs to be involved, for a variety of reasons, which I do not need to go into today. I say the same with regard to the whole question of hospitals and hospital trusts. We have had a terrible time in Stafford, with the Mid Staffordshire trust. What went wrong has been exhibited in many parliamentary debates, in statements by Ministers and now in five inquiries-we still need a full public inquiry-but, leaving that aside, the real problem arose when foundation trust status was granted.
The questions asked by the regulator were all about money and finance-I say "all" but, of the 47 questions posed in the session that led to the granting of foundation trust status, 37 were about finance and accountancy and the rest, a small minority were to do with patient care. The whole thing got off to the wrong start. If it was to operate as a trust and therefore within the framework of the voluntary environment that we are debating today, one would expect the discussion to be the other way around, with 37 questions on patient care and how to help people, rather than on accountancy, targets and how to achieve such things.
That is the essence of what I am trying to get across in the debate: the tremendous value of the voluntary sector is related to the volunteer element, which is itself about commitment to other people-to individuals, families, the neighbourhood and the community-and can come up in the fields of planning, hospital care, schools or the environment and amenities. However, giving that commitment every single opportunity to flourish is essential. Therefore, I very much welcome the opportunity to take part in the debate, if only occasionally to state the obvious.
4.26 pm
Mr. Colin Breed (South-East Cornwall) (LD): It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr. Illsley.
During a lot of my time in this place, I have been involved in Treasury matters or debates concerning financial crises, banks and everything else, so it is a great pleasure to participate in a debate about something completely different. I have enjoyed hon. Members' contributions because they have made me think a lot more about the voluntary sector and the part played by the literally hundreds of thousands of people who make a great difference to life in our communities.
Although the hon. Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt) entreated us not to give a great list of things happening in our own constituencies, I will widen my
contribution a little to mention Cornwall. I know we go on a bit about Cornwall, because it is still one of the poorest places, but when we look at the money raised there and the amount of voluntary work that is done, in some of the most difficult circumstances, we see that it is also one of the most generous places.
We do not recognise volunteers as much as we should, because they tend to be people who just get on with the job. They do not make a great fuss; they get on and do their bit. They enjoy doing their bit, but they remain important. For example, although we will think about the bad things that happen to a few children, we should also consider the amount of good stuff that is done for children, in particular those who are looked after in our communities. I am thinking of our sports clubs-football, rugby, cricket and swimming clubs-which look after far more children than even some of our uniformed youth organisations. Many people make a commitment to young people through youth clubs and the uniformed youth organisations.
I am amazed how many committees quietly get on with community events, such as organising music and drama festivals, or May fairs and pageants. Many people work in schools, hospitals and such. We often see the same people going from one voluntary job to another, but sometimes it is difficult to give them recognition.
I do not think that many Members could do their job without the amazing expertise and support of our citizens advice bureaux. Sometimes we find ourselves giving each other cases, but we work on many together. The professionalism of the CAB is tremendous, as is the way in which it has helped not only my constituents, but me.
Some people work quietly away in organisations such as the Samaritans. In my area, there is a rather high bridge across the Tamar. Sadly, rather too many people still jump off it, but I know that the Samaritans have prevented a huge number of people from taking their own lives.
Some people save lives around our coast, including those in lifeboat organisations-not only those raising money, but those out on the boats risking their own lives to save the lives of others, who have sometimes been rather foolish-and lifeguards in the summer. What would our Cornish tourism sector be like without people who were prepared, even when it is not terribly sunny, to patrol our beaches and look after people who are jumping in the sea?
We have hundreds of miles of footpaths in Cornwall, and people dedicate themselves to keeping them open. It is a great thing to be able to walk with a purpose, but these people, without any recognition, do things such as cutting down brambles and making certain that gates are open.
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