[cma-l] Tory plan to boost voluntary sector

[Bill Best]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/7558338

Charities would be allowed to make "substantial" profits from running
public services under Tory plans to boost their role being unveiled by
party leader David Cameron.

Mr Cameron will accuse Labour of holding back the potential of the
voluntary sector with red tape and centrally-set targets and promise
to set it free.

The publication of the Opposition's proposals is the latest move in a
concerted effort by Mr Cameron to push the Tories as the new
pace-setters on social policy.

And he will accuse the Government of losing sight of the beliefs of
welfare state architect William Beveridge that individuals and groups
had to be allowed to act on their initiative.

Recent research showed that only 12% of charities were paid enough to
cover the costs of helping deliver public services and that innovation
was being stifled by government rules, he will say.

Under the Tory proposals, the voluntary sector would compete to
provide services on an equal footing with private firms and would be
given freedom on how they were delivered. They would benefit from
longer-term contracts and charitable giving rules would be simplified
to help stimulate flagging levels of donations from the public. A new
network of Social Enterprise Zones would encourage investment in
deprived areas.

Mr Cameron, who will launch the proposals at a Kent community
organisation, will say: "Every day we see new evidence of things going
seriously wrong in our society. The social challenges we face today
are every bit as serious as the economic challenges Britain faced in
1979.

"And now, just as then, the scale of the challenge demands radical
Conservative reform. The big difference in British politics today is
about the role of the state: Gordon Brown believes in top-down state
control; we believe in bottom-up social responsibility.

"Labour believe that only the state can organise and deliver
collective provision: we have a vision of non-state collective
provision. The modern Conservative Party stands for a simple principle
when it comes to social reform and the role of the state: that there
is such a thing as society, it's just not the same thing as the state.

"So we want to see a transformation in the role of community groups,
social enterprises and the voluntary sector in helping to build a
stronger society for all of us."

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