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.
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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
Government must not prop up the Church of England, says NSS
Posted: Fri, 27 Jan 2017 11:37
The National Secular Society has urged the Government to allow the Church of England to find its own level of sustainability, in a response to a Government-led review.
The English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review was commissioned by the Government in March 2016 to consider the challenges faced by Anglican church buildings and their long term sustainability.
Over 2000 Anglican churches have congregations of fewer than 10, and two-thirds of church buildings are in rural areas, home to just 20% of the population.
Attendance at Church of England services has plunged to its lowest level ever with official figures showing that only 1.4% of the population of England now attend Anglican services on a typical Sunday morning.
The Government's church buildings task force is seeking to explore "creative and innovative ways" of using available resources more effectively to ensure churches "continue to be an integral part of local life" while not increasing the overall level of Government funding.
Since 2014 the Government has allocated around £221 million to repairing places of worship, with the vast majority of the money going to the Church of England – despite it having estimated assets of over £20bn.
The survey asks whether the local community – whether they attend their local Church of England church or not – has a "responsibility" for the preservation or upkeep of church buildings, and asks what churches need to offer in order to be attractive as venues for wider events and ventures.
In a response to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, which is coordinating the survey, the NSS said it would be wrong for the Government to excessively subsidise buildings if there was little local demand.
Churches are not ideal substitutes for community buildings, the Society said, and may prove alienating to some.
A spokesperson for the NSS said: "While there is a secular case for protecting buildings of cultural and historical significance, the Church of England is an extremely wealthy organisation which should not shirk its responsibility."
Arguing that the Review should not support claims that church buildings are unsustainable without wider financial and community support, the NSS pointed to the Churches' assets and priorities, stating that: "If the Church chooses to continue to withdraw support in order to focus on mission and church growth, then it should expect to lose control of such assets – which may be of interest to some community, local government or private developers."
You can respond to the English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review here. The survey will close at noon on Tuesday 31st January.
NSS calls for UK's public spending watchdog to investigate state handouts to churches
Posted: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 11:59
The National Audit Office has been asked to scrutinise the significant sums of public money that the Government has handed out to wealthy religious organisations.
The National Secular Society has called on the UK's public spending watchdog to investigate Government spending on places of worship – arguing that millions of pounds of taxpayers' money is being handed to wealthy institutions without justification.
Since 2014 the Government has allocated around £221 million to repairing places of worship, with the vast majority of the money going to the Church of England – which has estimated assets of over £20bn.
In a letter to the National Audit Office, the NSS says vast sums of money are being sent from the Treasury to the Church of England without sufficient checks, accusing the Department for Culture Media and Sport of a "lack of accountability".
Since 2014, the DCMS has allocated £40 million to cathedral repairs as part of the 'First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund'. Responsibility for administering the fund has been handed to the Church of England's Archbishops' Council. The fund was intended to cover "necessary works to the fabric of Anglican and Catholic cathedral buildings and structures in England, which will keep the buildings wind-proof and weather-tight, safe and open." Under the scheme, cathedrals are supposed to demonstrate financial need.
However, grants handed out so far include £200,000 for a new sound system at Hereford Cathedral and payments totalling over £1 million pounds to Salisbury Cathedral, despite the Cathedral already having assets of over £43 million pounds and the diocese in which it is situated having a pool of assets totalling £112 million pounds.
In total, 85 payments have been made to the Church of England despite Anglican cathedrals sitting on combined assets of over £1 billion pounds.
In addition, over £6.5 million pounds of public money has been handed over to Britain's Roman Catholic cathedrals.
Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive Director, said:
"We don't question the need to preserve these historic and architecturally significant buildings, but we do question whether public money is being spent appropriately. Religious organisations are responsible for maintaining their buildings and we believe public money should only be used to pay for the upkeep of these buildings where there is a demonstrable need to do so.
"The Church of England has the capacity to maintain its buildings so should not be handed public money which is spent without proper oversight, particularly in this time of austerity when those most in need are facing significant cuts to essential services."
In 2012 the Second Church Estates Commissioner Sir Tony Baldry MP said, "The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been incredibly generous towards the Church."
More recently Simon Jenkins argued in the Spectator that "business is booming" in England's cathedrals. "Cathedral turnover of £220 million has almost doubled in a decade," he wrote.
Faith and communities minister Lord Nick Bourne recently began a year-long tour of all 42 of England's cathedrals.
The First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund represents only a fraction of the public money handed to the Church of England for keeping its buildings in good repair. In addition, up to £42 million a year is available through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; The Heritage Lottery Fund provides grants of around £25 million annually; and £25 million has been set aside this year for the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund.
