King’s Speech

Lord Touhig Excerpts

Thursday 9th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Touhig (Lab)]

My Lords, I join others in saying that I appreciate greatly the tone in which the Minister introduced the debate. I very much regret that I cannot say the same thing about the grief he was required to articulate.

When thinking about what I should say today, I came across the following: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give”. Those words were spoken by Winston Churchill, and they are at the heart of what I want to say. The voluntary and charitable sector has been part of the British way of life for as long as I can remember. Giving makes us all feel good and contributes to building and strengthening our communities, but the future is looking bleak for many charitable organisations. A recent survey carried out by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations showed that some 85% of charities believe that the coming winter will be tougher than last year. Without more help, one in five charities could disappear, leaving people and communities at risk.

The NCVO statement revealed that over £16.8 billion of income for the charitable and voluntary sector comes from the Government and local government. However, these contracts are not uplifted each year to reflect the rising costs of delivering these vital services. Ahead of the Autumn Statement, the NCVO is asking the Government to ensure that contracts for services it provides, and direct grants to charities, are uplifted. Like the NCVO—and, I am sure, like many in this House—I endorse that.

Why is that so important? If nothing is done, people will not be able to access the vital services they need. I spent 20 years as a member of Gwent County Council before entering the House of Commons, where I served as chair of the Finance Committee. I saw first-hand how important public funding support was for local charitable initiatives. Unfortunately, all too often local council grant support was very short-term, covering one, two or a maximum of three years. I soon discovered that many local charities, having secured funding and employed staff, had, within a year, to use the staff as fundraisers in order to continue the service they were trying to provide. Public funding for charities is still too short-term; I strongly believe that five years is the minimum that will be required.

The contribution each of us makes as an individual is vital in building and strengthening communities, but, as the NCVO report has shown, the bedrock of income for many voluntary and charitable groups comes from local councils and government. More than that, the NCVO said that costs are increasing, income is falling and demand is increasing. In addition to the cost of living crisis, it now finds that there is a cost of giving crisis. For many, despite their resilience and ingenuity, the cost of giving crisis has created a melting pot of pressures as they continue to support their communities.

There is no doubt that the Covid pandemic left many voluntary and charitable organisations in a far worse position than we first thought. Now they are struggling while faced with falling income, increased costs and a growing demand for services. This cost of living crisis has hit very hard. Evidence of that can be seen in every supermarket. I am sure that I am not alone in this but, in recent months, when shopping I have noticed that the large crates at every exit, put there so that we can donate to local food banks, are now more often empty than full. In fact, there is hardly anything in there at all because people are feeling the pinch and cannot give as they did before.

This brings me back to a point I made earlier. In these circumstances, more government and local government financial support is necessary. I accept that many will say that public funding is already overstretched and is not a bottomless pit. I know that—we all know that—but, in these circumstances, the Government and local government will have to decide priorities. I passionately believe that increased financial support for contracts for and work done by the charitable sector should be a top priority for both the Government and local government.

Why do I feel this? As I said, I spent 20 years as a county councillor. I was a Member and Minister in the other place for nearly 16 years and I have been in this House for about 13 years. In that time, I have learned one important thing: no matter how good the Government and local government are at providing services, without the services provided by the voluntary sector, the quality of life of many people in our country would not be what it is today. Looking around the Chamber now, I suspect that many of us have at one time or another turned to the voluntary and charitable sectors for help or advice. We know how important their work is. Many of us are demonstrating it right now. Most of us in the Chamber are wearing poppies; each one bought provides help and financial support for one of the greatest charities in our country, the Royal British Legion.

The Government must ensure that contracts and grants for charities delivering services are uplifted to meet the costs of delivery. If this does not happen, people will not be able to access the vital services that they need. I sincerely hope that the Minister and the Government will be prepared to listen.