Results of Deputy Leadership Candidate Survey: Faith Based Welfare

Here are the responses from the candidates for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party on the issue of faith groups potentially taking over the delivery of some welfare services:

Some people are proposing that employment and other social services are handed over to voluntary sector religious organisations who in so doing so will protect their ethos by discriminating against potential employees who don’t share their beliefs and want to use their control of local service delivery to promote their religion to service users, or in some cases promote a particular religion as a requirement for receiving services. Is this something you would support?

Hilary Benn

I would not support any employment or social service provider making decisions about who receives publicly funded services based purely on religious grounds, except where this is part of our long standing culture, for example in faith schools.

Hazel Blears

No, organisations supplying a public service should be equitable in their approach.

Jon Cruddas

I believe that whoever a public service provider is, they should conform to the highest standards of employment practice, whether that is about their pay and conditions or respecting all employees' right to freedom of belief.

Peter Hain

When voluntary organisations are delivering public services on behalf of the state, they must comply with the standards of service and access requirements which the Government says citizens are entitled to expect.

That is why, as Northern Ireland Secretary, I implemented the Sexual Orientation Regulations without any exemptions for faith-based adoption agencies, as some had been calling for. Everyone is entitled to equal access to services.

Harriet Harman

Whether a service is provided by statutory bodies or from the voluntary or community sectors, there is no place for discrimination. This is why I stood up for the right of gay couples to adopt, and against an opt-out for Catholic adoption agencies.

Alan Johnson

I do support an increased role for the voluntary sector in delivering some key community services.  We need to recognise that the long arm of the state is not always trusted as much as local organisations (some of which may have a religious ethos) who can deliver a more tailored service.  The success of Sure Start, for example, was partly due to the fact that many people thought it was not a government scheme.  However, any increased role of the voluntary sector should be in the interests of the local community and not in the pursuit of any particular religion.