§ 1. Mr. Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston)If he will make a statement on the money allocated in the spending review 2002 for the voluntary sector. [99461]
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown)The Home Secretary and I plan to publish a paper on future policies for the voluntary sector. In addition to matching £400 million in gift aid with money for the active community unit and £125 million for the futurebuilders fund, the spending review gave priority to, and targeted extra resources on, voluntary sector participation in sure start, children's services, IT centres, community economic regeneration and the new deal. We also plan to introduce proposals to encourage gap year voluntary service by young people.
§ Mr. MillerI thank my right hon. Friend for his comments about sure start, which has been amazingly successful in my constituency, affecting 788 families. It is an example of the charitable and voluntary sectors and the Government working together. I urge him to do three things in respect of that superb project: to provide more investment; to join me in urging all parties to support it; and to consider allowing greater local flexibility, so that boundaries, which are rigid at the moment, could be bent a little to provide help to families who need it but who just happen to live across a boundary.
§ Mr. BrownI know that my hon. Friend has a sure start scheme in his constituency that has had capital funding and helped 770 children in the area. We are very pleased that as a result of the engagement of the voluntary sector in every sure start project—it now runs 10 per cent. of the projects as the lead manager—we have managed to increase sure start child care and early-years budgets from £973 million last year to £1.5 billion by 2005–6. We are determined to improve provision in every area of the country where sure start projects are 382 needed. The best way forward is to engage the voluntary sector, but that would not be possible if there were a 20 per cent. cut in public spending.
§ Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham)Given that the Government promised an extra £50 million for specialist palliative care, including additional support for voluntary sector hospices, and that that commitment was underlined by the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Salford (Ms Blears), as recently as 21 October last year, how does the Chancellor explain the fact, which infuriates the hardworking hospice movement, that it has so far received only 8 per cent. of the money first promised two and a half years ago?
§ Mr. BrownThe hon. Gentleman knows that the funding has been made available from the Treasury. Arrangements with individual hospices must be addressed locally, based on the view of local palliative care services. We are determined to put extra money into the hospice movement to help it, but I repeat that that would not be possible if the Flight plan for a 20 per cent. cut in public services were introduced.
§ David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire)Northwest Leicestershire is fortunate in having a flourishing and independent voluntary sector. What plans does the Chancellor have to encourage greater corporate support for the voluntary sector and, in particular, for individual businesses to be able to give financial backing to those in their local community?
§ Mr. BrownThe Chief Secretary has been leading the way from the Treasury in trying to engage the corporate sector in several new initiatives that would increase the amount of money available for, and the numbers of people engaged in, voluntary, community and charitable work. It would be welcomed on both sides of the House if we could increase the amount of corporate giving and corporate engagement in some of our voluntary and community projects. I look forward to publishing with the Home Secretary proposals on how we can move the process forward in the next few years. I remind my hon. Friend that gift aid is available for companies as well as for individuals, that it is the most generous system of tax relief for charities that has been made available in this country, and that it surpasses what is available in most other countries. I hope that the £400 million that we are now devoting to gift aid will increase over the next few years, from increases in both corporate and individual giving. I hope that we will have all-party support for that.
§ Mr. Stephen O'Brien (Eddisbury)Given the pressure that the Chancellor has put on the funds of the voluntary sector, with the decline in charities' income—such as that experienced by hospices—from his removal of the advance corporation tax dividend credit and the imminent imposition of his jobs tax through the increase in the national insurance levy, can he find the resources to refund the £500 million per year of irrecoverable VAT 383 to charities? If he can, we will back him every step of the way and fully co-operate on the issue during the passage of the forthcoming Finance Bill.
§ Mr. BrownI find it amazing that the Conservative party, which raised VAT and then put it on fuel, is now claiming that these measures have harmed charities. On help for charities, we have the best regime for individual and corporate giving, with tax reliefs higher than they ever were under the Conservatives, and an active community unit budget that has been increased massively. At the same time, the futurebuilders programme, led by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary, is putting £125 million extra into charities. None of the problems of charities could be solved if the Flight plan cut 20 per cent. from their expenditure.