Voluntary Sector Campaign of the Year (V)

WINNER Macmillan Cancer Support: Prescription Charges

The prescription charges exemption system in England had not been reformed in 40 years. Around 150,000 cancer patients were paying hundreds of pounds in charges for life-saving treatment, and Macmillan was receiving daily requests for help.

The Government agreed to a public consultation on an ‘expenditure-neutral’ review of the exemption system in July 2007 following a recommendation in the Health Select Committee’s NHS Charges report.

Macmillan’s objective was to secure a prescription charge exemption for cancer patients. The charity used a range of campaigning tools to shape the environment around which Ministers were making decisions.

Macmillan undertook research which found that nearly half of cancer patients were being forced to cut back on food and heating to pay for their prescriptions.

This research, alongside powerful stories of patients in poverty, proved effective in generating media activity. The charity secured nearly 400 pieces of coverage during its campaign.

There was also a steady flow of Parliamentary Questions, 125 EDM signatures and relationships built with groups such as the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the Fabian Society.

Macmillan also used public campaigners, corporate partners and Macmillan professionals effectively. More than 1,000 people wrote to their local MP to ask them to raise the issue with Government, and more than 4,000 letters were written to newspapers.

The charity had private meetings with Ministers and raised the issue at public meetings. It also targeted Ministers in their constituencies, and lobbied special advisers.

The charity was delighted when Gordon Brown announced plans in his 2008 party conference speech to abolish prescription charges for cancer patients and undertake a wider review of the exemption system.

The Department of Health said it was Macmillan’s campaign that convinced policymakers to act immediately to help cancer patients.

Barbara, from Norfolk, was one of the cancer patients who helped with Macmillan’s campaign. She said: “Free prescriptions will transform my life and thousands of others with cancer. I was so ecstatic when I got the news that I shared it with everyone in the train carriage.”

Following additional negotiations with Macmillan, free prescriptions for cancer patients came into effect from 1 April 2009.

Citizens Advice: Justice Denied Campaign

Every year hundreds of exploited workers win at an Employment Tribunal but do not receive the money ‘awarded’ to them because rogue employers simply fail to pay up.

Employment Tribunals have no powers to enforce their awards, which must be enforced through time-consuming, costly legal action by the claimants in the civil courts. In 2008/9 Citizens Advice successfully campaigned to close this loophole.

Based on evidence from its network of bureaux, Citizens Advice called for change by involving local Citizens Advice Bureaux and national policy, campaigns, press and public affairs teams.

The progress of an Employment Bill through Parliament provided a key opportunity to press for a change in the law. Citizens Advice first secured the support of selected peers in the House of Lords, and then of selected MPs, who put forward an amendment to the Bill.

Next, Citizens Advice Bureaux wrote to targeted MPs to seek their support, citing examples from their own advice work. MPs were also invited to a meeting of the Citizens Advice All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to find out more about the issue. At the same time, Citizens Advice met with Ministers, opposition spokespeople and officials to present ideas on how to change the law, and with the TUC and CBI to secure their support.

In October, Citizens Advice published a report, Justice Denied, setting out the findings of its detailed research on some 1,000 cases of an unpaid ET award dealt with by Bureaux in 2007/08. A targeted media campaign resulted in coverage in the Times and Sun and interviews on the BBC 1 Breakfast Show and Radio 5 Live. In November, a letter jointly signed by Citizens Advice and the TUC was published in the Times.

Initially, the government refused to bow to the pressure from MPs to amend the law, but on 19 May 2009 it announced that it was to introduce “tough new measures to improve the payment of awards”. In particular, a firm of High Court Enforcement Officers will be commissioned “to take on the recovery of awards” – a cost-effective mechanism first suggested by Citizens Advice.

New statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that of the 15,000 ET awards made each year, 39% were not paid and only 53% were paid in full, so this policy change will benefit over 7,000 people every year.

The Scout Association: Youth volunteering

Youth volunteering has been in steady decline for years. This, combined with the increasing popularity of The Scout Association (TSA), led to an urgent requirement to recruit an extra 6,000 volunteers to cater for the 32,000 young people waiting to join the movement.

To combat this problem, TSA and Luther Pendragon supported an independent parliamentary inquiry with the objectives of identifying policy barriers to young people volunteering; securing commitment from the government for change; and building a coalition of charities, businesses and policymakers to campaign for long-term solutions.

The Morgan Inquiry into Young Adult Volunteering was launched early in 2008 under the chairmanship of Baroness Sally Morgan of Huyton. Using a range of innovative tools including an interactive website and Facebook, evidence was generated from a diverse range of sources. Several oral evidence sessions were held in the House and, uniquely, one session was held at Link FM’s London studios and broadcast on James Brokenshire MP’s radio show.

A huge variety of organisations contributed and generated a set of clear recommendations for change. Following the report launch, the recommendations were accepted by the Minister for the Third Sector, and Oliver Letwin MP, chair of the Conservative Party’s policy review also referenced the findings. The report was also debated at Cabinet Office questions.

The campaign was not just about raising awareness but seeking policy change – and it delivered: the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions instructed Accenture to conduct a feasibility study of the report’s recommendations into volunteering as a route to work. Meanwhile, James Plaskitt MP, as minister responsible for Jobcentre Plus, amended guidance to Jobcentres, meaning they now encourage volunteering in their jobseekers’ guidance.

Furthermore, Volunteering England began the process of forming a Volunteering Action Group across the Third Sector, and DCLG has since announced a consultation on developing volunteering best practice, including examining the case for widening the volunteer posts that attract statutory time off work.

The campaign delivered real policy change that benefits the entire Third Sector, but also it delivered for TSA, which saw 1,500 more volunteers in its last census.