Scottish Election 2021: Charities ‘scared’ of criticising government – Willie Rennie

Willie Rennie has claimed that third sector organisations are scared of criticising government policies for fear of losing their funding.
Willie Rennie has claimed some government funded organisations are "scared" to criticise the government.Willie Rennie has claimed some government funded organisations are "scared" to criticise the government.
Willie Rennie has claimed some government funded organisations are "scared" to criticise the government.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said there was a “subtle threat” which needed to be removed in order for the public sphere to be able to engage in robust political argument without concern they could be shut down.

The right for organisations that “receive government money to criticise the government should be protected,” he said.

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Laying out a raft of changes he said his party would make to Scotland’s political system and the way Parliament can hold government to account, he said organisations which receive funding from the Scottish Government should have a “licence to criticise”, which would give them a stronger voice and a legal guarantee that they won’t be penalised financially.

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Mr Rennie said he knew of “multiple examples” where charities and other bodies had withdrawn from engaging with his party, if it was likely to lead to any criticism of the SNP government.

Refusing to give names, he said: "One third sector organisation we were in discussions with about doing a member’s debate asked us if we would criticise the government. We said most likely as we have concerns, and they said they’d rather not get involved if that's what your planning to do.

“We know there are multiple examples like that, you see organisations pulling their punches, holding back, on things that in Westminster they don’t hold back. It's a culture that's around.”

He said the services the public relied on from organisations and others, were failing as a result of concern “that speaking out will have implications for their future funding and survival”.

He added: “Devi Sridhar [the public health expert on the government's Covid advisory panel] spoke to it as well.

“She said last year a lot of public health experts were reluctant to speak out for fear of losing their funding. That happens, we know, right across charities and the third sector and that subtle threat needs to be removed.

“Nothing is ever full foolproof but it tips the balance. You could give power to the Standards Commissioner, you could make it as part of the ministerial code so if there were complaints received from an organisation they had funding withdrawn because of something they had said, and they could provide evidence to justify it, it could go before the independent investigator.

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"It creates an extra hurdle for ministers to jump over before they consider withdrawing funding. We are keen to make sure the current fear that exists is removed.”

Mr Rennie said his party also wanted to strengthen the role of the Parliament’s Public Audit Committee in the wake of the concerns about the deal the government struck with Liberty Steel, which is under threat after its financiers collapsed.

He said the committee needed to be able to scrutinise business grants of more than £250,000 before they are paid “to satisfy themselves that the recipient company pays a fair level of UK tax, and save us from the embarrassment of ministers signing agreements with dubious companies.”

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