Month: November 2020

Next year’s elections to the Senedd are unique. Tens of thousands of 16 and 17 year olds will be able to vote for the first time, joining their peers in Scotland in participating in the democratic process. Foreign nationals will also have the right to vote. Information campaigns have already been launched across Wales to get the message out.

Yet the elections will take place against the background of disruption caused by the pandemic; as across the UK, where a bumper set of elections is taking place. Electoral administrators, statutory bodies, political candidates, and all those who care about participation in our democracy, face uncertainty. Plans to ensure everyone can vote safely, as well as engagement campaigns to reach those least likely to vote, must respond to a changing situation and the risk that face-to-face meetings may not be possible.

At an important civic moment for over 100,000 people in Wales, there is a risk this disruption will taint their first chance to vote in the UK – and will amplify existing inequalities in political participation.

The UK Democracy Fund works to enable everyone to vote. We aim to improve the fairness and health of our democracy by supporting under-represented groups to participate. If engagement campaigns are done well, these elections can be a moment of valuable learning for the rest of the UK about how extensions of the franchise can empower young people in particular to make their voice heard and exercise their democratic rights.

The Fund welcomes the extension of the franchise in Wales, and is pleased to announce a set of grants awarded to groups seeking to engage newly enfranchised voters in the election.

Over £138,000 has been invested in four civil society organisations:

• Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Wales
• Citizens Cymru Wales, a chapter of Citizens UK
• Ethnic Youth Support Team (EYST)
• Urdd Gobaith Cymru

The Welsh Government has welcomed this announcement:

“There is so much exciting work taking place in Wales to support the extension of the voting franchise and we are delighted that additional projects in Wales have received support from the UK Democracy Fund. Young people across Wales will have a number of opportunities to engage in democracy and prepare for their first vote in Senedd elections in May”.

The Fund believes that addressing political inequality and ensuring newly enfranchised voters can exercise their rights is beyond the reach of any single organisation. As a result, we are working alongside the Welsh Government, the Electoral Commission, the Senedd and the Electoral Reform Society in Wales to support organisations to coordinate, collaborate and share learning about what works. We have already seen significant and welcome efforts to coordinate approaches and invest in education and information resources for voters.

Catrin James, from Urdd Gobaith Cymru, a National Voluntary Youth work organisation with over 55,000 young members across Wales, said:

“We are pleased to receive the funding support from the UK Democracy Fund and are looking forward to collaborating with others. Senedd Elections in 2021 will be the first time that 16/17 year olds will be able to vote in Wales. Through a range of activities the Urdd will raise awareness and encourage young people across Wales to understand the relevance of Senedd Elections in May and act to register and cast their vote.”

A grant has also been awarded to academics Christine Huebner, Thomas Loughran, Andy Mycock and Jan Eichhorn for a research project seeking to understand what interventions make the difference in terms of young people’s political participation.

The Project Lead, Dr Christine Huebner at Nottingham Trent University, said:

“This presents a unique opportunity to test and demonstrate successful strategies to mobilise young first-time voters and enhance turnout levels among young people in Wales. The project will extend the evidence base on ‘Votes at 16’ in the UK and internationally.”

For more information, please contact the Head of the Fund at DemocracyFund@jrrt.org.uk.

Further detail about grants awarded by the Fund is available here

Everyone associated with JRRT was very sad to hear of the recent death of Diana Scott, who served on the Board of JRRT from 1995 until 2007. Diana was our Chair from March 2006 until her retirement from the Board in October 2007.

Diana started campaigning against social injustice at the age of 12, and the range of causes which she served with such skill, enthusiasm and commitment, was many and varied. They included campaigns for children, housing, the health service and the regulation of utilities.

Diana was only the third woman ever to be appointed to the JRRT Board and she proved a staunch board member, putting forward her views with great common sense and a depth of knowledge that came from the substantial experience she had built up in so many different areas of public life.

Diana was impossible to categorise; belonging to no political party, and owing no particular allegiance to “left” or “right”; she simply committed to the public good, and operated with a freedom and openness of thought which was refreshing. She modestly referred to herself as a “Jill-of-all-trades and a mistress of none”, but her remarkable achievement was to bring her campaigning skills to so many causes and to show others how they, too, can become empowered.

We were lucky to have Diana as a colleague and we owe her much. She will be sorely missed.

We had 53 responses to the survey we conducted earlier this year. We’re publishing the results in full – both for transparency and so we can say thank you to everyone who put time into sharing their perspectives.

The positive feedback was very encouraging; the less positive will help us reflect on what we can do differently. You told us that:

Understanding of our focus on democracy is clear.  JRRT is strongly associated with democratic reform and work to strengthen the democracy sector, as well as civil liberties, and voter participation.

Rating JRRT, 22% regarded JRRT as expert, 80% positive about our level of understanding.  47% rated JRRT as a major influence in their field and 60% scored the Trust as having significant positive impact.  All were significant improvements on the 2017 survey.

On what JRRT priorities should be, the highest top weighted rankings were strengthening the democracy sector (18%); transparency and accountability (14%); and democratic engagement 13%.

The application process is seen as fast (85%) and easy to use (79%). Three out of four applicants do not feel under pressure to modify priorities and 66% felt extremely comfortable approaching the Trust if there were a problem.  But feedback emerged as an area where we can improve.

Capacity: Two thirds of grantees say that a JRRT grant has contributed to building their financial sustainability – and perhaps unsurprisingly grants for capacity building were the top choice for support (20%), followed by opportunities to network or collaborate and opportunities to take part in events and seminars (both 14%), access to London office space (13%) and introductions to parliamentarians in their field (12%).

Strengthening the democracy sector: top choices were for commissioning research to support campaigning (13%), mapping the sector and open resources on who’s who, academics, funders, parliamentarians (12%), polling (10%) and strategic communications (9%).

The Board will be considering the survey results as we set priorities for 2021 and beyond.

To read a full breakdown of our survey results, please click here to download a PDF of the detailed figures and all submitted open comments.

It was with great sadness that JRRT learned of the death on 30 October 2020 of our friend and colleague David Shutt, Lord Shutt of Greetland OBE.

David joined the board of JRRT, then known as the Joseph Rowntree Social Services Trust, in 1975. He gave great service to the Trust as one of our longest-standing and most influential directors, overseeing our finances and helping to guide our political direction throughout his tenure. He served as Chair from 2007 to 2010. Throughout his service, his firm Quaker beliefs and Liberal principles helped keep the Trust moving along the lines set out for us in 1904 by our founder, Joseph Rowntree. David played a key role in the Power Inquiry (a joint project with the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust) and kept the Trust focussed on the purity of elections, including voter registration and party funding reform; causes that remain central to the work of JRRT’s grantees today.

In 2000, David was appointed as a working peer, and served as Spokesman for the Liberal Democrats on International Development and then Northern Ireland, as well as Liberal Democrat Deputy Whip in the Lords, and then Chief Whip. When the Coalition Government was created in May 2010, David was appointed to a ministerial position as the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords.

David resigned from the Trust’s board in 2010 when he went into government, but remained an active, valued and vocal advocate of JRRT as a member of the company. His commitment, kindness and humour were much valued and will be greatly missed.

JRRT sponsors the annual David & Goliath Award at the SMK National Campaigner Awards in memory of David.