Catholic Union encourages UK Government to partner with faith groups

Source: Catholic Union

The Catholic Union has called on the Government to unlock the potential of faith groups in helping to tackle local problems.

In a letter to the Faiths Minister, Lord Greenhalgh, the Catholic Union has called for better guidance from the Government to encourage local authorities to work with faith groups at the ground level. The Catholic Union believes that "some small changes to existing guidance" could make a big difference in supporting the work of faith groups.

The Catholic Union has called for civil society to be at the heart of plans for recovery from the pandemic, and expressed concern that there was no mention of faith or family in the Queen's Speech on 11 May, which set out the Government's plans for the year ahead.

The Catholic Union expressed disappointed that there was no mention of faith groups in guidance to local authorities on the Covid Winter Grant Scheme, which was launched by the Government last year to support vulnerable households.

The Catholic Union has said that grants and other sources of funding should be more accessible to faith groups to support the work they are doing in their communities. It has urged the Government to make sure that future funds, such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, encourage local authorities to work with local faith groups wherever possible.

Catholic Union Head of Public Affairs, James Somerville-Meikle, comments: "The pandemic has shown the importance of churches and charities to the communities they serve. In many cases, churches are able to reach people on the margins of society - people that government services overlook or cannot reach.

"But this has also been a tough year financially for many churches and charities. That's why we're calling on the Government to put efforts to support civil society at the heart of their plans for recovery. This should include better guidance on how existing funds are used by local councils so that churches and charities can access funding to support their work.

"While in some places, partnering with faith groups is already happening successfully, there is more the Government could do to unlock the potential of faith groups to address local problems. Encouraging local authorities to explore options for working with faith groups would help to provide reassurance to some local councils. Now is the moment to help civil society flourish."

The full letter text follows:

The Lord Greenhalgh

Minister of State

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF

26 May 2021

Dear Lord Greenhalgh

Thank you for the work you are doing in Government to support faith groups, particularly your work on the Covid Taskforce for Places of Worship.

I'm writing to ask for your support in helping faith groups to access all possible sources of Government funding to help rebuild from the pandemic and level up our communities.

It's clear that this next session of Parliament will be focused on recovery from the pandemic. The Government clearly has a role to play in this, not least in empowering civil society to meet the challenges we are seeing in communities across our country. The Catholic Union has called for this to be a moment not just for national recovery, but national renewal, by enabling civil society to flourish.

I'm sure you are familiar with the huge amount of work being done by faith groups to support people through the pandemic, especially those on the margins of society and those hardest to reach through direct Government support. You might be aware of the recent study from the University of York into Churches, COVID-19 and Communities, which found that 87 per cent of churches regularly contacted the isolated.

Given the importance of faith groups in helping people recover from the pandemic, it was disappointing that there was little in the Queen's Speech about supporting civil society, and not a single mention of faith groups. Plans to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy on charities are welcome, but what charities need more than anything is financial support.

We have previously raised the possibility of an enhanced Gift Aid scheme with your colleague, Baroness Barran in DCMS, but we understand that the Government is not minded to support any changes at present.

There are other ways in which the Government can help faith groups, including through better promotion of existing grant schemes and clearer guidance on the purposes for which funds can be used.

The Covid Winter Grant Scheme, announced by the Government last year, provided funds to local authorities to "give vulnerable households peace of mind in the run up to Christmas and over the winter months". Despite many faith groups already doing similar work and being well placed to help administer funding at a ground level, there was no mention of faith groups in the Government's guidance for local councils on the Scheme.

We have similar concerns about the UK Community Renewal Fund, which was announced earlier this year as a precursor to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. While the ministerial foreword to the Fund states that it is designed to "empower places to explore how best to tackle local challenges", there is no mention of faith groups in the prospectus for the Fund, despite the hugely important work of faith groups in helping to tackle challenges in their communities.

While I appreciate that Ministers want to avoid being seen to favour some partners above others when it comes to delivering services and securing funds, the Catholic Union believes that some small changes to existing guidance could make a big difference in supporting the work of faith groups.

Encouraging local authorities to explore options for working with faith groups would undoubtedly help to provide reassurance to some local councils. While in some places, partnering with faith groups is already happening successfully, there is more the Government could do to unlock the potential of faith groups to address local problems.

While it is too late to make changes to the Covid Winter Grant Scheme guidance, it is not too late to look at how faith groups could be included in administering funds from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund or other such funds in future.

This could be something for officials to look into to see what could be done to ensure that faith groups are able to fully participate in grant schemes in future.

The Catholic Union would be delighted to support you in any way in this work. We would be delighted to meet you to discuss this matter if that would be helpful.

I look forward to hearing from you.

With my best regards,

Nigel Parker

Director

The Catholic Union of Great Britain