Tag Archives: voluntary sector

George Bangham

The Independent View: The Liberal Democrats and civil society

By George Bangham | Wed 15th October 2014 - 1:30 pm
It’s been a tricky 18 months for Lib Dems and charities. Of course the party has traditionally been close to the voluntary sector. Many current parliamentarians previously worked in it. But the Lobbying Act opened up a serious rift. Charities are now suffering the consequences of this illiberal and undemocratic limit on their free speech. With an election fast approaching, how has the party tried to heal the wounds?
This year at ACEVO – the social leaders’ network – we decided to do go beyond the usual third sector manifesto-writing and ask a range of Lib Dems to set out in detail their vision for civil society and politics. The result was The Yellow Book of the Voluntary Sector, a book of essays we published at conference in Glasgow. Its contributors show promise in their view of the voluntary sector, but there’s still some way to go.
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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | 2 Comments
Norman Lamb MP

Norman Lamb: Support for Volunteer Groups across our Health and Care System

By Norman Lamb MP | Sun 1st September 2013 - 9:03 am

Charities and not-for-profit organisations offer an extraordinary range of care services across the UK. They offer millions of people access to high-quality treatment, advice and support. Brilliant innovation in care often happens in this sector. It is critical that the NHS works hand in hand with third sector organisations to make full use of the important work that they carry out in enabling people to live healthier, more independent lives.

Last week I announced the latest round of funding for the Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development (IESD) Fund, which is designed to support voluntary groups in promoting health and wellbeing in local communities.

The …

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

Time for Nick Clegg and the Coalition to see sense and stop the ‘Charity Tax’

By Stephen Tall | Wed 4th April 2012 - 9:15 am

This year’s budget was, in general, a good one for Lib Dems. Most notably, the party’s number one priority of taking more low-paid workers out of tax was fast-tracked, while the controversies, and specifically the cut in the 50p top-rate at a time when pensioners’ tax allowances are being frozen, have hit their Tory backers’ support in the polls.

However, there is one lesser noticed and malign Budget change, the ‘Charity Tax’ — a cap on tax relief which threatens to cost the charitable sector hundreds of millions of pounds — which has not attracted mainstream media attention. That needs to change if the Coalition is to be talked down from a policy with Lib Dem fingerprints on it, and which will undermine philanthropic giving at a time when it is needed more than ever during the public funding squeeze.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | 11 Comments
The Voice

Lib Dems are top choice of voluntary sector workers

By The Voice | Sat 10th January 2009 - 1:50 pm

ThirdSector.co.uk brings us the news:

A survey has suggested that more voluntary sector campaigners support the Liberal Democrats than Labour, with a significant percentage supporting the Conservative Party. The survey was carried out by recruitment consultancy The Right Ethos, which finds campaigners jobs with charities.

It looked at all 550 people on its database and found that, of the 80 who mentioned an involvement with a political party on their CVs, 45 per cent had a link with the Liberal Democrats, 31 per cent with Labour and 19 per cent with the Conservatives. Only 5 per cent favoured the Green Party.

Brian

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Posted in News | 8 Comments
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