Charities: Coronavirus

(asked on 15th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the extension of covid-19 lockdown restrictions on charities' ability to fundraise.


Answered by
Matt Warman Portrait
Matt Warman
This question was answered on 22nd June 2021

My department regularly engages with representatives of the charity and social enterprise sectors and reviews emerging evidence to understand the impact of ongoing restrictions. My officials have reached out to stakeholders following the Prime Minister’s announcement to seek feedback and offer an opportunity to discuss potential implications further.

We recognise that the restrictions that have been necessary over the last year have impacted on the ability of many in the charity and social enterprise sectors to generate income, including from trading and fundraising. While many of these restrictions have already been lifted, including allowing the return of non essential retail, we understand that this extension will continue to limit certain activities. Guidance is available on a range of activities that will be relevant to charities and social enterprises including, for example organised events and grassroots sport and sports facilities. We have also worked with the Institute of Fundraising and Fundraising Regulator to support the development of guidance on the safe return to fundraising activities, and will continue to do so as events unfold.

We have not commissioned independent research into the impact of the pandemic on the charity and social enterprises sectors. However, we are working closely with stakeholders and academic institutions looking into the effect on these sectors, including Nottingham Trent University and Sheffield Hallam University. We will also carefully consider the findings of the independent inquiry into the impact of the crisis on social enterprises, launched by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Social Enterprises on 10 June. This work will collectively enable government to generate a complete picture of the impact of the crisis on charities and social enterprises.

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