Covid-19: Charities

Debate between Lord Purvis of Tweed and Baroness Barran

Tuesday 24th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

My noble friend makes an important point. In other emergency situations we have seen that aid is not always distributed effectively. Community foundations around the country have extraordinary networks of local charities and can make sure that the money raised gets to the places that need it most. I know that the National Emergencies Trust and others are working actively with the community foundations.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as patron of a number of charities, including very local ones. As the Minister is well aware, many people who deliver services for charities and local communities are volunteers who are themselves in the same vulnerable categories as those they wish to support. We know that local charities often find a great deal of bureaucracy in securing funds, especially when they have to match fund or go through a byzantine system of funding applications. Will the Government’s package of support include that element?

We have seen reports of people using the good support for charities for their criminal activities. One example is scammers leafleting people offering to get shopping then taking money and not providing it. Will the Government make sure that our criminal justice system is acting proactively on those who are taking advantage of the most vulnerable in society? This is abuse and there should be zero tolerance of it at this critical time.

[Baroness Barran]

The noble Lord made important points about local charities, simplification of funding and older volunteers. I am pleased that we announced this morning, through the Department of Health and Social Care, the launch of the GoodSAM app, which I commend to Members of the House. It allows volunteering both from home, by telephone support for others, and in the community if necessary. On simplifying funding, every funder that I have spoken to is looking at ways to simplify and become more agile and responsive. That is happening across the piece. The noble Lord made an important point about scammers; colleagues across Government are working on that.