---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Inter Faith Network Circular 17/08 Government developments
From: "IFNet" <IFNet@...>
Date: Wed, 16 July, 2008 3:09 pm
To: "IFNet" <IFNet@...>
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Circular 17/08

15 July 2008



Dear Inter Faith Network contact,





'Face to Face and Side by Side'



The Government's new document, prepared in the light of responses to the
consultation it initiated at the end of last year, on a framework for
inter faith dialogue and social action is due to be published on 21 July.
A Circular will be sent to member bodies next week dealing with this.
Contact details for Network member bodies and members of the Network's
Executive Committee were provided to CLG for invitation to the launch.





'Communities in Control: Real People, Real Power'



Last week the Government published a White Paper with this title which it
says aims "to pass power into the hands of local communities" and that
Government wants "to generate vibrant local democracy in every part of the
country and to give real control over local decisions and services to a
wider pool of active citizens" and to "shift, power, influence and
responsibility away from existing centres of power into the hands of
communities and individual citizens."



The White Paper sets out a wide range of steps which the Government
believes will contribute to this process. They do not relate specifically
to the role of faith communities but to the engagement of local
communities and individuals in public life, in its widest sense, more
generally. However, there is a specific reference in Chapter 2 to the
role of faith based groups which is as follows:



"The role of faith-based groups



2.33 Among the voluntary organisations we want to help in different
ways to build stronger communities, there is a particular role for faith
based groups. Britain has a strong tradition of faith-based organisations
working to improve local communities. This reflects the importance placed
on charitable acts, social action and civic duty in all religions
practised in the UK. There are over 23,000 religious charities in the UK
and many more faith-based organisations, involving tens of thousands of
people motivated by their faith, working at a local and national level to
provide support and services to communities. At times there has been
reluctance on the part of local authorities and agencies to commission
services from faith-based groups, in part because of some confusion about
the propriety of doing so. Building on the Faithworks Charter, we intend
to work with faith communities to clarify the issues and to remove the
barriers to commissioning services from faith-based groups.



2.34 The Office of the Third Sector will be carrying out a new national
survey of third sector organisations - including faith-based charities -
later this year to better understand the issues which influence the
well-being of the sector."



[Note: The Commission on Integration and Cohesion, which reported in June
2007 recommended that "a set of clear guidelines should be developed to
enable local authorities and others to be able to award public service
contracts to faith based bodies without fear that there will be issues
over whether this will lead to proselytising or pressure on users of
services to accept the religious belief of the providers". It was noted
that a charter produced by Faithworks, an ecumenical Christian
organisation, "illustrated some of the ground which it would be desirable
to explore".]



Alongside the White Paper the Department for Communities and Local
Government has published a consultation document on proposals for "The
Empowerment Fund" which it is intended should "fund third sector
organisations to empower communities across England". The document says
that "this fund will provide support existing national third sector
organisations operating across England to help local communities turn key
proposals into practical action on the ground... in such areas as
community leadership, involvement in planning and social enterprise." The
£7.5million fund will provide grants over the three year period of
2008-2011. Depending on the level of grant which they are seeking,
organisations will need to have an income of £1million or more or £400,000
or more. So it will have limited application to Network member bodies.
Responses to the consultation are required by 30 September.



The text of the White Paper "Communities in Control" can be found at
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesincontrol and
of the consultation document on the proposed Empowerment Fund at
www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/empowermentfund.





Reform of the House of Lords



The Government has published a White Paper on "An Elected second chamber:
Further reform of the House of Lords". In March 2007 the House of Commons
and the House of Lords debated the Government's White Paper on "The House
of Lords: Reform" published the previous month. The House of Commons
voted in favour of a wholly elected second chamber (337 to 224) and of an
80% Elected Chamber (305 to 267) and against all other options. The
Cross-Party Group with representatives of both Houses of Parliament
(including a cross-bencher and a Church of England bishop) had met for
discussions prior to publication of the February 2007 White Paper and
reconvened after the debates in Parliament in March 2007. The present
White Paper is a Government document but sets out where there was a broad
consensus on the Cross-Party Group and where there were differences of
view.



The White Paper sets out four key principles to maintain the difference
between membership of each House after members are elected to the second
chamber:



· Members of the second chamber should be elected on a different
representative basis from members of the House of Commons;

· Members of the second chamber should be able to bring independent
judgement to their work;

· Members should serve a long term of office; and

· The second chamber should take account of the prevailing
political view of the electorate but also provide opportunities for
independent and minority views to be represented



The White Paper proposes (with widespread support within the Cross-Party
Group) that elected members should normally serve for a single
non-renewable term of 12-15 years; would be elected directly in thirds
with each member serving three electoral cycles; and that large
constituencies should be used, each returning more than one member over
the three electoral cycles. The elections in thirds would take place at
the same time as general elections for the House of Commons. The White
Paper invites views on options for the voting system to be used in
electing members to a reformed second chamber.



In discussions in recent years about the future of the House of Lords,
beginning with the Royal Commission chaired by Lord Wakeham, which
reported in 2001, one issue has been that of faith community
representation in the second chamber. Currently 2 Archbishops and 24
Bishops of the Church of England have seats in the House of Lords.
Chapter 6 of the new White Paper considers whether there should be an
appointed element within a reformed second chamber. It suggests that if
a reformed second chamber is wholly elected there should be no seats for
Church of England bishops; but that if there is an appointed element in a
smaller second chamber then there should be a proportionally reduced
number of seats for Church of England bishops. The Government proposes
that the conclusion of the Wakeham Commission should be followed that
providing reserved places for other Churches and faith communities would
be problematic. However, the Government proposes that an Appointments
Commission tasked with recommending individuals for appointment to the
second chamber, should make it clear to these other Churches and faith
communities that many Church and faith leaders would be strong candidates
for appointment and should encourage applications from them. The relevant
paragraphs from the White Paper (6.45 to 6.54) are attached.



Comments on the White Paper as a whole, which is available online at
www.justice.gov.uk/publications/elected-second-chamber.htm, can be sent to
the House of Lords Reform Team, Ministry of Justice, 6.07 Selborne House,
54 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QW or by email to:
lords.reform@....





Best wishes, Harriet Crabtree





Dr Harriet Crabtree
Director
The Inter Faith Network for the UK
8A Lower Grosvenor Place
London
SW1W 0EN

Tel: 020 7931 7766
Fax: 020 7931 7722

Email: ifnet@...
Web: www.interfaith.org.uk <http://www.interfaith.org.uk/>

Company limited by guarantee no. 3443823 registered in England.

Circular 17/08

15 July 2008

 

Dear Inter Faith Network contact,

 

 

‘Face to Face and Side by Side’

 

The Government’s new document, prepared in the light of responses to the consultation it initiated at the end of last year, on a framework for inter faith dialogue and social action is due to be published on 21 July.   A Circular will be sent to member bodies next week dealing with this.  Contact details for Network member bodies and members of the Network’s Executive Committee were provided to CLG for invitation to the launch.

 

 

‘Communities in Control: Real People, Real Power’

 

Last week the Government published a White Paper with this title which it says aims “to pass power into the hands of local communities” and that Government wants “to generate vibrant local democracy in every part of the country and to give real control over local decisions and services to a wider pool of active citizens” and to “shift, power, influence and responsibility away from existing centres of power into the hands of communities and individual citizens.”

 

The White Paper sets out a wide range of steps which the Government believes will contribute to this process.  They do not relate specifically to the role of faith communities but to the engagement of local communities and individuals in public life, in its widest sense, more generally.  However, there is a specific reference in Chapter 2 to the role of faith based groups which is as follows:

 

“The role of faith-based groups

 

2.33    Among the voluntary organisations we want to help in different ways to build stronger communities, there is a particular role for faith based groups. Britain has a strong tradition of faith-based organisations working to improve local communities. This reflects the importance placed on charitable acts, social action and civic duty in all religions practised in the UK. There are over 23,000 religious charities in the UK and many more faith-based organisations, involving tens of thousands of people motivated by their faith, working at a local and national level to provide support and services to communities. At times there has been reluctance on the part of local authorities and agencies to commission services from faith-based groups, in part because of some confusion about the propriety of doing so. Building on the Faithworks Charter, we intend to work with faith communities to clarify the issues and to remove the barriers to commissioning services from faith-based groups.

 

2.34    The Office of the Third Sector will be carrying out a new national survey of third sector organisations – including faith-based charities – later this year to better understand the issues which influence the well-being of the sector.”

 

[Note: The Commission on Integration and Cohesion, which reported in June 2007 recommended that “a set of clear guidelines should be developed to enable local authorities and others to be able to award public service contracts to faith based bodies without fear that there will be issues over whether this will lead to proselytising or pressure on users of services to accept the religious belief of the providers”.  It was noted that a charter produced by Faithworks, an ecumenical Christian organisation, “illustrated some of the ground which it would be desirable to explore”.]

 

Alongside the White Paper the Department for Communities and Local Government has published a consultation document on proposals for “The Empowerment Fund” which it is intended should “fund third sector organisations to empower communities across England”.  The document says that “this fund will provide support existing national third sector organisations operating across England to help local communities turn key proposals into practical action on the ground… in such areas as community leadership, involvement in planning and social enterprise.”  The £7.5million fund will provide grants over the three year period of 2008-2011.  Depending on the level of grant which they are seeking, organisations will need to have an income of £1million or more or £400,000 or more.  So it will have limited application to Network member bodies.  Responses to the consultation are required by 30 September.

 

The text of the White Paper “Communities in Control” can be found at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesincontrol and of the consultation document on the proposed Empowerment Fund at www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/empowermentfund.

 

 

Reform of the House of Lords

 

The Government has published a White Paper on “An Elected second chamber: Further reform of the House of Lords”.  In March 2007 the House of Commons and the House of Lords debated the Government’s White Paper on “The House of Lords: Reform” published the previous month.  The House of Commons voted in favour of a wholly elected second chamber (337 to 224) and of an 80% Elected Chamber (305 to 267) and against all other options.  The Cross-Party Group with representatives of both Houses of Parliament (including a cross-bencher and a Church of England bishop) had met for discussions prior to publication of the February 2007 White Paper and reconvened after the debates in Parliament in March 2007.  The present White Paper is a Government document but sets out where there was a broad consensus on the Cross-Party Group and where there were differences of view.

 

The White Paper sets out four key principles to maintain the difference between membership of each House after members are elected to the second chamber:

 

·        Members of the second chamber should be elected on a different representative basis from members of the House of Commons;

·        Members of the second chamber should be able to bring independent judgement to their work;

·        Members should serve a long term of office; and

·        The second chamber should take account of the prevailing political view of the electorate but also provide opportunities for independent and minority views to be represented

 

The White Paper proposes (with widespread support within the Cross-Party Group) that elected members should normally serve for a single non-renewable term of 12-15 years; would be elected directly in thirds with each member serving three electoral cycles; and that large constituencies should be used, each returning more than one member over the three electoral cycles.  The elections in thirds would take place at the same time as general elections for the House of Commons.  The White Paper invites views on options for the voting system to be used in electing members to a reformed second chamber.

 

In discussions in recent years about the future of the House of Lords, beginning with the Royal Commission chaired by Lord Wakeham, which reported in 2001, one issue has been that of faith community representation in the second chamber.  Currently  2 Archbishops and 24 Bishops of the Church of England have seats in the House of Lords.  Chapter 6 of the new White Paper considers whether there should be an appointed element within a reformed second chamber.    It suggests that if a reformed second chamber is wholly elected there should be no seats for Church of England bishops; but that if there is an appointed element in a smaller second chamber then there should be a proportionally reduced number of seats for Church of England bishops.  The Government proposes that the conclusion of the Wakeham Commission should be followed that providing reserved places for other Churches and faith communities would be problematic.  However, the Government proposes that an Appointments Commission tasked with recommending individuals for appointment to the second chamber, should make it clear to these other Churches and faith communities that many Church and faith leaders would be strong candidates for appointment and should encourage applications from them. The relevant paragraphs from the White Paper (6.45 to 6.54) are attached.

 

Comments on the White Paper as a whole, which is available online at www.justice.gov.uk/publications/elected-second-chamber.htm, can be sent to the House of Lords Reform Team, Ministry of Justice, 6.07 Selborne House, 54 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QW or by email to: lords.reform@....

 

 

Best wishes, Harriet Crabtree

 

 

Dr Harriet Crabtree

Director

The Inter Faith Network for the UK

8A Lower Grosvenor Place

London

SW1W 0EN

 

Tel: 020 7931 7766

Fax: 020 7931 7722

 

Email: ifnet@...

Web: www.interfaith.org.uk

 

Company limited by guarantee no. 3443823 registered in England.