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
NSS criticises Foreign Office for “fetishising” the hijab
Posted: Fri, 9 Feb 2018 10:55
The National Secular Society has criticised the Foreign Office for "fetishising Islamic head coverings" after it encouraged staff to mark 'world hijab day'.
The Foreign Office sent an internal memo offering employees the chance to wear free hijabs on 1 February. Since 2013 some have called this 'world hijab day'. Others have responded, particularly on social media, by declaring 'no hijab day'.
The memo claimed "many" women see the headscarf as representing "liberation, respect and security".
"Would you like to try on a hijab or learn why Muslim women wear the headscarf? Come along to our walk-in event. Free scarves for all those that choose to wear it for the day or part of the day.
"Muslim women, along with followers of many other religions, choose to wear the hijab. Many find liberation, respect and security through wearing it. #StrongInHijab. Join us for #WorldHijabDay."
A Foreign Office spokesman told the Evening Standard the event was for staff at its London office who wanted to learn about 'other cultures'.
'World hijab day' was created by a woman in New York in 2013. Its organisers say they created it "in recognition of millions of Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab and live a life of modesty". They also say it is designed to "fight discrimination against Muslim women through awareness and education".
They claim the support of politicians including Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland.
Stephen Evans, NSS chief executive, said: "This appears to have been a well-intentioned event, but it is dubious whether civil service staff need their bosses to educate them on religious issues.
"If government departments wish to teach their staff about religion, they should do it warts and all. That means understanding that women are forced to wear the hijab across large parts of the world. And it means understanding the social pressure that encourages many others to wear it as a sign of 'modesty', submission to male-dominated religious authorities and a visible sign of commitment to one particular faith and community.
"Women who choose to wear the hijab should be able to do so in peace and without facing discrimination. But a critically-informed assessment of Islamic head coverings would not fetishise them. At a time when women in Iran are fighting for the right to remove their hijabs, the Foreign Office should be the first to realise this."
Council votes to continue giving worshippers free parking
Posted: Tue, 23 Jan 2018 15:41
The National Secular Society has criticised a council in Surrey which has decided to continue exempting worshippers from parking charges.
On Thursday Woking Borough Council's executive voted unanimously to retain a policy which was previously amended as a result of an NSS intervention.
It allows members of faith groups to park free of charge in the council's off-street car parks "in order to attend a place of worship for the purpose of, or in connection with, worship on that faith community's primary day of worship".
On Sundays members of four church congregations can use a validating device to encode their parking tickets, allowing them to leave the car parks without paying. The council also gives support to worshippers who attend the local mosque on Fridays.
The council says the measure is justified because faith groups "play an important role", "encourage people to participate in society" and carry out "considerable voluntary work".
The policy has been in place since 2008. In 2013 the NSS launched a legal challenge against the council on the basis that it was discriminatory. The council responded by issuing a "clarification" which said other community groups could apply for similar allowances.
Its amended policy entitles non-faith based community groups to free parking if it is "reasonable and proportionate" to give it to them. But the NSS has argued that good causes still do not benefit consistently. Runners who raise money for charity when taking part in the Surrey half-marathon, for example, are required to pay charges to park within the borough. Meanwhile those attending church are entitled to free parking in the same car parks.
The council estimates that its policy is worth £1,000 per week. It will next be reviewed in January 2023.
Following the NSS's challenge several local newspapers in other parts of the country revealed that other councils were funding special privileges for the religious.
NSS president Keith Porteous Wood expressed his disappointment with the decision.
"Plenty of people, religious and non-religious alike, do good work in their communities. But the council's efforts to extend free parking to non-faith groups appear to be little more than a tokenistic effort to get around the legal complications.
"This policy rewards anyone who goes to a religious service. Religious worship should not be incentivised with special perks – paid for by other taxpayers. We urge the residents of Woking to continue to press for the withdrawal of this unjustifiable religious privilege.
"We have no problem with free parking for those actually doing good work provided it applies even-handedly to religious and non-religious alike. Otherwise everyone should pay the same."
