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Charities: Coronavirus

Answer

The government understands that the pandemic has created significant challenges for many in the charity sector. This is why we made available a multi billion pound package of support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, to protect against job losses in the sector.

There is no single source of data which can provide a real time picture of the financial and operational health of the sector. Government is therefore drawing evidence from a range of sources in order to shape our understanding of the overall impact.

A number of established surveys are providing a picture of the nuanced impact of the pandemic on financial outlook, workforce and levels of service delivery. These include the Covid-19 Voluntary Sector Impact Barometer from Nottingham Trent and Sheffield Hallam Universities, and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. While some respondents indicate increased financial and operation hardship, many others report a stable or improving position.

The Charity Commission has started to provide intelligence on the impact on reserves emerging from charitable returns, indicating the number of organisations with negative or no reserves has increased over the last year. My department is also continuing to gather intelligence from departments across government to understand risks and issues relating to critical services provided by charities and how these are being addressed.

My department will continue to monitor the health and resilience of the charity sector, and will explore ways to strengthen the evidence available to support our assessment. The government is working with the partners in the sector to shape a forward looking agenda that will support a strong and resilient civil society.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

24249

Session

2021-22

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Charities Fundraising Coronavirus

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk