Services funded by public money should be open to all, without alienating anyone.
The recent drive to contract out public services to faith groups risks undermining equal access.
Help us keep public services free from discrimination and evangelism.
The government is increasingly pushing for more publicly-funded services to be provided by religious organisations.
Many faith-based groups have carried out social service without imposing their beliefs. But religious groups taking over public service provision raises concerns regarding proselytising and discrimination.
65% of people have no confidence in church groups running crucial social provisions such as healthcare with only 2% of people expressing a lot of confidence.
Any organisations involved in delivering public services should be bound by equality law and restrictions on proselytisation.
Those advocating for faith organisations to take over more public services risk undermining these restrictions, which exist to protect both the public and third sector.
"We have concerns that some religious groups that seek to take over public services, particularly at local level, could pursue policies and practices that result in increased discrimination against marginalised groups, particularly in service provision and the employment of staff. Non-religious people and those not seen to confirm to the dominant ethos of a religious body, such as being in an unmarried relationship or divorced and being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered, could find themselves subject to discrimination."
Unitarian Church (Submission to the Parliamentary Public Administration Select Committee about the Big Society agenda)
There are also concerns about faith-based mental health and pastoral care in public institutions, including chaplaincy programmes in the NHS and the armed forces. Where such services are funded by the state, they should not be organised around religion or belief.
Religious commentators are often keen to document the contribution of religious organisations to the third sector and social activism. But they fail to demonstrate why it should be the state's role to build this capacity or why local authorities shouldn't have legitimate concerns about religious groups running services.
Take Action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to protect secular public services.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Newcastle Council gives church-goers parking permit at a nominal fee
Posted: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 12:04
Newcastle City Council has announced that it will not proceed with its plan to completely withdraw free Sunday parking permits from churches in the city centre. Instead, worshippers will now be charged a nominal annual fee of £20, "to cover administration" while parking charges for everyone else will be raised substantially to bring in an estimated extra £500,000.
Churches had originally been told that the free parking scheme would end in March 2014 but since then the council has met with church leaders to negotiate the nominal fee.
Newcastle Council is making swinging cuts in all other areas of its services, including those for children and the elderly. Libraries, museums, art venues and leisure facilities are also being cut as the Council struggles to save £100 million.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "Although this privilege won't make a huge amount of difference to the savings that Newcastle is being forced to make, it is still discrimination against every other motorist in the City who has to pay the full cost of parking.
"Many people consider their own Sunday morning activities – whether it is visiting relatives, going to the cinema or out for a meal - to be just as valid as going to church, but they have no alternative but to pay the new inflated costs of parking.
"Treating church-goers more favorably than everyone else is discrimination pure and simple".
Woking Council issue 'clarification' on worshippers’ parking policy
Posted: Thu, 8 Aug 2013 16:54
Woking Borough Council has issued a 'clarification' on its policy that grants car parking exemptions to religious groups. The move follows the threat of legal action from the National Secular Society.
In July 2012 councillors in Woking adopted a controversial new policy which offered free parking concessions to worshippers. The National Secular Society subsequently launched a legal challenge against Woking Borough Council claiming that allowing free parking for worshippers amounted to direct discrimination on the grounds of religion and belief and contravened the Equality Act.
Councillors in Woking have responded by amending the policy which now clarifies that members of other community groups who promote social inclusion and undertake voluntary work may also park free of charge in the Council's car parks. The decision as to which groups (faith or community based) are allowed free parking will continue to be for the Council to determine on an individual basis.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: "We are pleased that the council has responded to our allegations of unlawful discrimination by revising its policy parking charge exemptions.
"We will postpone any court action until we can assess how the new policy works in practice."
A copy of Woking's revised policy showing the amendments can been found here.
