Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 15 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to establish a regular forum for social enterprises to co-ordinate relations with Government.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Civil Society Strategy sets out our vision for government’s work with and for civil society over the next 10 years and beyond. The Strategy recognised the demand from the social enterprise sector for a simpler relationship with the government and committed to establishing a regular forum for social enterprises to coordinate relations with government. The details of the forum will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 17 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what steps her Department has taken towards improving the use of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.
Answered by Matt Warman
As outlined in the Civil Society Strategy, this government is committed to enabling the generation of social value through a range of measures.
The Strategy is forward-looking and long-term. Our immediate priority is to expand use of the Social Value Act in central government. Through a joint DCMS and Cabinet Office programme, all major procurements by government departments will explicitly evaluate social value as appropriate, rather than just ‘consider’ it as currently, providing it does not add complexity or cost to the procurement process, restrict markets or exclude small businesses from government contracts.
Use of the Act will be extended to goods and works contracts, in addition to those for services and 4000 commercial buyers will be trained on how to take account of social value and procure successfully from a diverse range of organisations.
While the programme focuses on central government, the changes will have more of an impact due to the number of supplier markets we have in common with the wider public sector as well as the private sector.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 15 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what progress her Department has made on working with (a) the Charity Commission and (b) UK Community Foundations to release at least £20 million from inactive charitable trusts to help community organisations.
Answered by Matt Warman
By the end of March 2019, the Revitalising Trusts Programme, delivered in conjunction with the Charity Commission and UKCF, had released over £11 million worth of funds from dormant charitable trusts, reinvesting this in local communities. This funding will support local good causes across the country.
The programme is on track and we expect to reach our target of at least £20 million by the end of March 2020.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 17 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what steps her Department has taken towards ensuring that the principles of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 are applied to the whole of government spending and decision-making.
Answered by Matt Warman
As outlined in the Civil Society Strategy, this government is committed to enabling the generation of social value through a range of measures.
The Strategy is forward-looking and long-term. Our immediate priority is to expand use of the Social Value Act in central government. Through a joint DCMS and Cabinet Office programme, all major procurements by government departments will explicitly evaluate social value as appropriate, rather than just ‘consider’ it as currently, providing it does not add complexity or cost to the procurement process, restrict markets or exclude small businesses from government contracts.
Use of the Act will be extended to goods and works contracts, in addition to those for services and 4000 commercial buyers will be trained on how to take account of social value and procure successfully from a diverse range of organisations.
While the programme focuses on central government, the changes will have more of an impact due to the number of supplier markets we have in common with the wider public sector as well as the private sector.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to work with partners to develop new models of community funding.
Answered by Matt Warman
Access (the Foundation for Social Investment) has launched its 'Local Access' programme together with Big Society Capital. This programme will provide a blend of grant and repayable investment worth at least £33m across five places in England. This includes £15 million of repayable social investment from Big Society Capital (the UK’s social investment wholesaler set up with dormant account money), £8 million of funding from Access’s endowment for enterprise development, and £10million of recently released dormant accounts money for place-based investment. The first round of funding will be released to the chosen five places in early 2020. The objective of the programme is to support the growth of the social economy in local places and in doing so help reduce poverty and inequality.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 17 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what progress her Department has made on establishing the potential for the use of social value in grants as well as contracts.
Answered by Matt Warman
As outlined in the Civil Society Strategy, this government is committed to enabling the generation of social value through a range of measures.
The Strategy is forward-looking and long-term. Our immediate priority is to expand use of the Social Value Act in central government. Through a joint DCMS and Cabinet Office programme, all major procurements by government departments will explicitly evaluate social value as appropriate, rather than just ‘consider’ it as currently, providing it does not add complexity or cost to the procurement process, restrict markets or exclude small businesses from government contracts.
Use of the Act will be extended to goods and works contracts, in addition to those for services and 4000 commercial buyers will be trained on how to take account of social value and procure successfully from a diverse range of organisations.
While the programme focuses on central government, the changes will have more of an impact due to the number of supplier markets we have in common with the wider public sector as well as the private sector.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what plans her Department has to renew its commitment to the Compact.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Civil Society Strategy sets out our vision for government’s work with and for civil society over the next 10 years and beyond. The Strategy recognises the importance of government working together with the sector to maintain its health, independence and influence. We are exploring options for renewing the government’s commitment to the principles of the Compact.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 17 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what steps her Department has taken on exploring the application of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 to other areas of public decision-making.
Answered by Matt Warman
As outlined in the Civil Society Strategy, this government is committed to enabling the generation of social value through a range of measures.
The Strategy is forward-looking and long-term. Our immediate priority is to expand use of the Social Value Act in central government. Through a joint DCMS and Cabinet Office programme, all major procurements by government departments will explicitly evaluate social value as appropriate, rather than just ‘consider’ it as currently, providing it does not add complexity or cost to the procurement process, restrict markets or exclude small businesses from government contracts.
Use of the Act will be extended to goods and works contracts, in addition to those for services and 4000 commercial buyers will be trained on how to take account of social value and procure successfully from a diverse range of organisations.
While the programme focuses on central government, the changes will have more of an impact due to the number of supplier markets we have in common with the wider public sector as well as the private sector.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to work with (a) civil society, (b) the Electoral Commission and (c) the charity commission to explore what non-legislative steps could strengthen civil society’s confidence in speaking out.
Answered by Matt Warman
The Civil Society Strategy sets out our vision for the government’s work with and for civil society over the next 10 years and beyond. The Strategy recognised the need for the government to work with civil society, the Electoral Commission, and the Charity Commission to develop non-legislative steps to increase the confidence in civil society to speak out.
In September, the Electoral Commission released new guidance to clarify rules on charity campaigning spending in the lead up to unscheduled general elections so they could campaign with confidence all year round.
The Electoral Commission developed this guidance following engagement with charities, the Charity Commission and government. The new guidance has been welcomed by charities.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham, Deptford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 15 of the Government’s Civil Society Strategy, what progress her Department has made on working with partners to explore how best to use digital technology to build a stronger and more effective social sector.
Answered by Matt Warman
Since the publication of the Civil Society Strategy, DCMS has funded the Centre for Acceleration of Social Technology (CAST), Social Tech Trust, and Nesta Challenges, among other partners, to strengthen the digital resilience of the social sector. Activities range from establishing investment funds through to launching challenge prizes. We have also built the skills and capability of charity leaders by funding 13 training and support providers, through the £1 million Digital Leadership Fund.