Councils don’t use Christian groups amid fears they’ll be ‘biased or evangelise’
by Anthony Bushfield, Premier:
Many councils are not using faith-based organisations to provide vital services because they fear the cash will be used to evangelise, it’s claimed.
Local authorities also worry that Christian groups would be biased to people of the same faith, according to the Labour MP Stephen Timms.
The politician, a Christian, is promoting the Faith Covenant which aims to encourage dialogue between councils and faith-based organisations.
“Council officers are pretty wary about dealing with faith-based groups,” Timms told Premier.
“They worry that if they commission a service from a faith-based group that maybe the money is going to be used to try and convert people instead of providing the service.”
He also warned that council bosses fear Christian groups would provide a better service to people of the same faith.
“In practice I don’t think either of those two things happen,” he stressed. “It’s surprising how anxious council officers can be about this so the aim of the covenant is to spell out the assumptions and the commitments on both sides.”
The Faith Covenant is already being used in six local authorities including Birmingham, Leeds and Barnet in North London.
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