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Main party manifestos and advice

Here's a quick guide to what the main political parties say about advice - and the voluntary sector - in their 2010 General Election manifestos:

Conservatives

‘We will carry out a fundamental review of legal aid to make it work more efficiently, and examine ways of bringing in alternative sources of funding.’

‘...launch Britain’s first free national financial advice service, funded in full through a new social responsibility levy on the financial services sector;’

‘Britain has a proud and long-standing charitable tradition, and we are convinced that the voluntary sector should play a major part in our civic renewal. We will introduce a fair deal on grants to give voluntary sector organisations more stability and allow them to earn a competitive return for providing public services. We will work with local authorities to promote the delivery of public services by social enterprises, charities and the voluntary sector.’

http://media.conservatives.s3.amazonaws.com/manifesto/cpmanifesto2010_lowres.pdf

Labour

‘We will guarantee the three million households who rent from a private landlord the right to a written tenancy agreement and access to free and impartial advice.’

‘We strongly value the independence of the voluntary and community sector, including its campaigning role, and will act to maintain it. There will be greater support for third-sector organisations in competing for public-sector contracts, ensuring there is a level playing field with the public and private sectors. We will consult on putting the Compact Commission – which sets guidelines for effective partnership working between government and the third sector in Britain – on a statutory footing, and ensure greater support for the Compact at local level.’

http://www2.labour.org.uk/uploads/TheLabourPartyManifesto-2010.pdf

Liberal Democrats

‘As Liberal Democrats, we are committed to handing power back to local communities. We believe that society is strengthened by communities coming together and engaging in voluntary activity, which sets people and neighbourhoods free to tackle local problems. Liberal Democrats will support the voluntary sector by:

  • Introducing ‘easy giving accounts’ at publicly-owned banks to allow people to operate charitable giving accounts alongside their current accounts.
  • Reforming Gift Aid to operate at a single rate of 23 per cent – giving more money to charity while closing down a loophole for higher rate tax payers.
  • Reforming the process of criminal record checking so that volunteers need only one record that is portable, rather than multiple checks for each activity.’

http://network.libdems.org.uk/manifesto2010/libdem_manifesto_2010.pdf

In Free to be Young policy paper, passed at their Federal Conference and now official party policy, though it didn’t make it into their GE manifesto:

‘Support you as you prepare for adult life with key personal and social skills – like how to manage relationships and deal with sexual health issues and how to make the most of your money. We will also give you access to specialist support and advice on things like your legal rights and responsibilities and how drugs and alcohol can affect you both inside and outside school.’ [Our emphasis]

http://www.libdems.org.uk/siteFiles/resources/PDF/conference/96%20-%20Free%20to%20be%20Young%20CLEARPRINT.doc