The three major political parties have now published their election manifestos in readiness for 6th May and it seems all contain sector-pleasing proposals.

Hannah Terrey, head of policy and public affairs at Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) commenting on the Labour manifesto A Future Fair for All, said, “We welcome the Labour Party’s commitment to ‘strongly value the independence of the voluntary and community sector’ and it will be interesting to see, as the election campaign unfolds, more detail on the Labour party’s review of incentives for philanthropy to arts organisations.

“However we are disappointed that Labour have confirmed that £75 million will be made available to the proposed social investment wholesale bank from dormant accounts. As we have previously said, this is insufficient to establish a viable and sustainable wholesale investment bank and it needs additional funds from dormant accounts to be workable.”

Of the Conservative Party manifesto, An Invitation to Join the Government of Britain, with its central theme of Big Society, Terry says, “We welcome the emphasis of the Conservative Party’s manifesto on the part to be played by Third Sector organisations in addressing social needs and increasing participation in local communities through their ‘Big Society’ ideas.

“As with Labour’s proposals for the Social Investment Wholesale Bank, the Conservative’s plans for a ‘Big Society Bank’ are welcome, but we need to ensure that any proposed wholesale bank is sufficiently capitalised to enable a steady flow of affordable funds to smaller community organisations, charities and social enterprises. As the election progresses, we look forward to seeing more detail on the party’s plans to increase philanthropy and how these would work in practice.”

While in response to the Liberal Democrat Party’s Manifesto, Terry says, “It’s great to see a commitment to introducing “giving accounts” similar to CAF Charity Accounts and we hope they intend to make them tax effective too. We have been talking to banks and other stakeholders about this idea for some time. Promoting these accounts to millions more people could move us much closer to a society where planned and tax-effective giving is the norm.

“We are pleased to see their commitment to reforming Gift Aid and they have been more specific than the other main parties but we are not convinced that a composite rate is the best direction for reform. We would be concerned about a fixed composite rate of 23% which may have an unintended negative impact on the sector should the tax environment change in the future. We would also argue that the higher rate tax relief is not a ‘loophole’, but for some people acts as an incentive to give. We would be keen to discuss the details further and will share with them the study on Gift Aid that we have recently commissioned Res Publica to undertake.”

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) chief executive Stuart Etherington, said of the Labour Manifesto, “Greater strength for the Compact and the promotion of schemes that allow communities greater control over local public buildings are great news for the sector but we would be concerned at any proposals to divert Lottery money away from voluntary organisations.”

In response to the Conservative manifesto Etherington said, “We are pleased to see that civil society is at the heart of the Conservative manifesto. Several commitments within the manifesto demonstrate an understanding of many of the issues and concerns raised by the voluntary sector.

“In light of previous Conservative proposals to divert Lottery funding away from the voluntary sector, we particularly welcome the new commitment to secure this essential, independent source of funding for voluntary and community groups.”

Etherington however was disappointed by the Liberal Democratic manifesto. “We are disappointed it does not present a coherent vision for the role the voluntary sector plays in supporting and strengthening communities.However, there are a number of important commitments, in particular removing the restrictions on the right to protest and proposals for easy-giving accounts.”

The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) offers an in-depth analysis of the manifestos and their implications for the third sector on its website.