Chris White MP: Social value holds the key to making public services sustainable

Chris White is the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. Follow Chris on Twitter.

In June this year, I was delighted to be appointed as the first ever Social Value Ambassador by the Government, in order to champion my Private Member’s Bill which passed last year – the Public Services (Social Value) Act – and to support the social value agenda more widely. Since the Act passed, and now in my new role, one of myths I am keen to combat is the idea that considering social value is a burden upon public bodies at a time when they need to be focusing on other issues.

As a candidate in Warwick and Leamington, one of the most consistent concerns I heard from residents was about how we can improve the quality of local services, despite the difficult economic environment. Most people recognise that we are facing a period where public spending cannot increase as rapidly as it has in the past, yet we have to find ways to ensure that services meet the expectations of the public whilst keeping a downward pressure on cost. This is a challenge that is being felt across the public sector, and particularly amongst local authorities, and it requires new ways of thinking about commissioning and delivering services.

Chris White MP: An Act that stands up for social value

Chris White is the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. Follow Chris on Twitter.

Today the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, also known as the Social Value Act, which I introduced over two and a half years ago, will be officially implemented across public sector bodies including NHS Trusts, local authorities and central government departments.

The Act is short and simple. But it seeks to change the way that public sector bodies design contracts so that they consider what additional social, economic and environmental well-being they can produce in the way that they deliver the services that we all use. It builds on a number of principles which the Conservative Party articulated in the run up to the General Election.

Firstly, it seeks to focus public service delivery on outcomes rather than inputs. Public services should not just be about the amount of money you spend, but what you achieve with that money. The Social Value Act asks public sector commissioners to think carefully about the contracts they are designing and to see how we can get as many positive outcomes for our communities as possible through the way that we deliver public services.

Secondly, it is hoped that the Act will benefit social enterprises, charities and community organisations who I believe are best placed to deliver many of our public services. In opposition, we rightly sought to champion the potential that exists in civil society and the social enterprise sector to improve our public services. These organisations are rooted in the very communities they serve, and this makes them best placed to develop tailored solutions to deal with some of our most pressing challenges. In designing contracts which take account of social value, I believe that more of these organisations will have the opportunity to win public service contracts and show what they can achieve.

Chris White MP: The Chancellor could boost manufacturing and the economy by increasing capital allowances

Chris White is the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. Follow Chris on Twitter.

In just over a week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be making his Autumn Statement. I am sure this will focus, like previous statements, on creating jobs and growth in the face of strong global economic challenges.

As co-Chair of the Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, I believe that the best pathway to growth is through supporting our manufacturers and in increasing our industrial capacity. If Britain’s economy is to grow in the next few years, it will be on the back of exports.

Fortunately, Britain’s manufacturers have been rising to the challenge. As has been quoted across the media, for the first time since 1976, the United Kingdom is a net exporter of cars – a figure that brings me particular pride as a former employee of MG Rover. After the economic crisis in 2009, British manufacturers responded strongly to a falling pound and grew faster than our service sector for much of the next two years – although growth has slowed recently, primarily because of the situation in the Eurozone.

Chris White MP: The time has come for Britain to lead the way in developing a modern industrial policy

Chris White is the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. Follow Chris on Twitter.

Today, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is making a speech outlining his views on an industrial policy. This is something that I and other colleagues have been calling on the Government to deliver over a period of many months.

As co-chair of the Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group – a body which brings together MPs, Peers, world-beating companies, experts, trade unions and industrial representative bodies – one of the most consistent messages I have heard from manufacturers is the need for the Government to put in place a long term framework for the UK’s manufacturing future.

Government cannot do everything, but what it can do is to be clear about the sort of support it is going to give to industry, the sectors or technologies that it believes Britain can lead the world in developing and create a culture of confidence amongst British businesses.

Manufacturing is particularly crucial to developing a successful industrial policy. All parties recognise that Britain has become too dependent on domestic consumption, financial services and debt. We need to move towards increasing exports and rebuilding our industrial base so that we have a more diversified and resilient economy.

Chris White MP: Small charities mustn't lose out from the Chancellor's plans for giving

Chris White is the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. Follow Chris on Twitter.

A measure that didn’t receive a lot of press attention during Budget 2011, but which could make a big difference, was the decision by the Chancellor to create a new scheme for charities to claim Gift Aid on small donations up to £5,000 per charity without the need for donors to fill in a Gift Aid declaration.

This scheme was widely welcomed by charitable organisations up and down the country and showed that the Conservative Party understood the pressures they were facing and was trying to do something to help. Moreover, by giving charities an incentive to get more smaller donations, it would help build greater financial resilience amongst community groups in a difficult economic environment and encourage more organisations to diversify their funding streams.

But as with most things, the devil is in the detail and the proposals which have emerged since the publication of the Small Charitable Donations Bill have caused a great deal of concern for charities.

As the scheme currently stands start-up charities and smaller organisations which have traditionally not claimed Gift Aid will be significantly disadvantaged – exactly the groups we should be supporting.

Chris White MP: Attacking charity donors will have unintended consequences. The Government must change its plans.

Chris White is the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. Follow Chris on Twitter.

At the last general election, the Conservative Party made clear that we wanted to support charities across our communities. This was not only because these organisations do worthy work helping thousands of people both at home and abroad, but also because we recognised the role that they would play in civic renewal. Like the rest of the country, charities are trying to operate in a difficult economic climate. The number of people that require their help has gone up, but they are feeling the squeeze as government support is reduced.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that the voluntary sector will lose around £3.3 billion in public sector funding over the spending review period. Retrenchment in public spending is unavoidable and while I, like many others, would prefer to see local and central government do as much as possible to protect our charities from the worst of the reductions, support from the public sector was always going to fall. However this does not have to mean that support to charities has to fall.

Like the United States today, Britain has a great history of private philanthropy. Men such as Peabody, Rowntree and Wellcome have left legacies which have generated considerable benefit for the nation and have changed tens of thousands of lives. But since 2006/07, donations from individuals has flat lined, only increased by around £300m according to the NCVO’s Civil Society Almanac. This is in marked contrast to the start of the decade, where between 2001/02 and 2003/04 there was an increase in income to voluntary organisations from individuals from £9.7 billion to £12.3 billion – around £2.6 billion.

If we could achieve this kind of increase again in the years ahead, we could offset much of the reduction in support from the public sector and put charities on a more sustainable footing. This shows that there is potential for greater giving from private sources – and the Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd and the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, have been right to seek to increase the incentives for the wealthiest in particular to give more.

Chris White MP: Public Services (Social Value) Bill – a small change that could make a big difference

Chris White is Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. Follow Chris on Twitter.

On Tuesday my Private Member’s Bill on reforming public services passed through the House of Lords to ensure that it will be law, a year and a half after I introduced it. The soon to be “Public Services (Social Value) Act 2010-12” asks public bodies to consider how they might use public service contracts to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of our communities. This may sound a small change, but it could make a big difference for thousands of charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises across the country.

As a Conservative candidate in the last general election, one of the things that most inspired me in our manifesto was the vision that it sought to create of public services; run by our communities, for our communities. This idea recognised that by using the expertise and dedication of voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises we could not only reconnect people with the delivery of the services that they use, but also help to create better public services from it. However, this vision is not going to come about unless we have a procurement system that appreciates the benefits that they create alongside the cost that they are willing to deliver services for. We all know of examples in our own areas of dedicated groups or socially responsible businesses which not only deliver cost effective services but also generate additional benefits through apprenticeships, using volunteers and reinvesting money into community projects.