Commitment 2015
Democracy in Action www.citizensuk.org Registered charity number: 1107264
Working for the Common Good in 2015
The Citizens UK Commitment
The Citizens UK Commitment is the work of thousands of people, the hopes of ordinary mums and dads, teachers and trade unionists, school children, university students, pastors, Rabbis, Imams and more. It is a simple call to the common good developed through twelve months of listening, a call to uphold the dignity of the isolated, the working and those seeking sanctuary.
The Citizens UK Commitment is an invitation to Prospective Parliamentary Candidates to work with us, and to encourage their party leader to engage with our agenda by meeting with Citizens UK before 7th May 2015.
This election Citizens UK will act in every constituency supporting our members to make democracy a dynamic force, enabling groups and individuals through collective and associate membership to work together for the common good. Citizens UK is the national home of community organising. Developed over 25 years, we are both an alliance of diverse communities that work together for the common good, and a charity which works to develop the capacity of people to participate in public life.
Our Plan of Action In 2010 Citizens UK brought together the three party leaders at an event just three days before the election, where they answered to an agenda developed by civil society. This election, we aim to do it again. On May 4th 2015 Methodist Central Hall Westminster will be filled with 2,500 people. It will be the culmination of a nationwide programme of activity, involving:
Most importantly, it is a request that candidates solemnly commit, if elected, to do all in their power to secure dignity for the isolated, the working and those seeking sanctuary. 1. We care about care. Will you commit to: Ensure that care workers are trained to nationally-accredited and evidence-based standards; ensure that care recipients benefit from a small and consistent team of care workers, with at least 30 minutes for home care visits; and ensure that care workers are paid at least the Living Wage? The social care system we depend on to support many of the most isolated and vulnerable is at breaking point.We are working with a range of local authorities, some of the biggest social care providers in the country, unions and local communities to build a genuine movement around a charter to ensure that those we love are cared for properly. 2. We stand for the dignity of all. Will you commit to:
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The training of teams of associate members in communities across the country who will take the Citizens Commitment to their local candidates, including in 108 of the most marginal constituencies;
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A range of major UK-wide actions, involving tens of thousands of people on diverse issues ranging from housing to interest rates, children’s health to youth unemployment;
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A national programme of voter registration and mobilisation, particularly in marginalised communities;
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A gathering of 2,400 people in Nottingham with the Health and Social Care Ministers and their counterparts from other parties, focused on social care and social isolation;
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A gathering of 1,000 people in Birmingham with the Home Secretary and counterparts from other parties, focused on upholding the UK’s tradition of providing sanctuary to those fleeing persecution, and on ending indefinite detention.
Build a real-two way relationship with us? Will you meet us within a month of the election should you be elected? And will you write to your party leader encouraging them to meet with Citizens UK before the General Election?
We are seeking to work with all the UK’s largest civic associations to put communities’ priorities and the common good at the centre of public life in the next six months, whether this takes the form of substantial national collaborations, or connecting local groups so everyone has an opportunity to take part.
Voter turnout is likely to hit its lowest ever level at a general election in 2015. Peoples’ faith and participation in politics is fading. We want candidates and party leaders alike to seek genuine, accountable, reciprocal relationship with civil society as we seek to rebuild trust in public life.
Put a time limit on adult detention for immigration purposes and end the use of pain-based removal techniques? 36,000 people are detained each year for immigration purposes. Terrorist suspects can be detained for a maximum of 28 days but every one of those 36,000 without the right papers is detained indefinitely. We are the only country in Europe to use indefinite detention. This highly costly system is deeply inhumane, punishing those fleeing persecution with a terrible limbo. There are cheaper, more humane alternatives and we would like to see government explore them. 3. We are democrats. Will you commit to:
Registered charity number: 1107264
About Citizens UK Citizens UK is an alliance of 350 schools, faith communities, unions and voluntary sector organisations in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, and with new alliances forming in Leeds and Newcastle and Gateshead. Our membership is made up of these organisations and communities, along with individual associate members. The charitable objective of Citizens UK is to develop the capacity of our members to participate in public life, enabling them to be involved in the decisions that affect them and those they love. We believe that democracy in the UK is in danger of becoming something people watch on television, not something that they do. But our members, both institutional and individual, believe it is a privilege and a responsibility to be an active citizen and that the opportunity to vote is but the starting point of a healthy democracy. That’s why in the run up to the 2015 General Election we are engaging thousands of members in shared action for the common good – including encouraging prospective parliamentary candidates to sign this Commitment. - Visit our website: www.citizensuk.org - Email us: info@citizensuk.org - Follow us on twitter: @CitizensUK - Like us on facebook: facebook.com/CitizensUK - Become an associate member*: www.citizensuk.org/associatemembership - Make a one-off or regular donation to support our work: justgiving.com/CitizensUK - Join our mailing list to keep up to date with our work: citizens.nationbuilder.com/mailing-list *IMPORTANT: Partly due to the controls imposed by the Lobbying Act, our campaigning work between now and the General Election on 7th May 2015 can only involve our paying members. If you’re part of a dues-paying organisation in membership of a Citizens UK alliance, this already includes you. If you are not, but would like to get involved, you must become an associate member (see above). This will cost you as little as £1, and allows you to participate in national Citizens UK campaigns at a local level, access campaign training, and use materials approved by Citizens UK – up to and beyond the General Election!
THIS COPY TO BE RETURNED TO CITIZENS UK
Registered charity number: 1107264
Commitment 2015 This Commitment is the culmination of listening to thousands of families in constituencies across the UK. It seeks to put the dignity of the individual at the centre of public life; dignity for those in work, for those left isolated, and for those seeking sanctuary.
As the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for , I hereby commit to write to my party leader encouraging them to meet with Citizens UK before the General Election. Furthermore, I commit that if elected I will work with Citizens UK and do all in my power to: 1. Improve the quality of social care and bring dignity to care workers; with a) care workers trained to nationally-accredited and evidence-based standards; b) care recipients benefitting from a small and consistent team of care workers; c) at least 30 minutes for home care visits beyond basic checks; d) ensuring that care workers are paid at least the Living Wage.This will require minimum pricing standards in social care commissioning and sufficient funding in the system. 2. Put a time limit on adult detention for immigration purposes and end the use of pain-based removal techniques in the immigration process; 3. Take forward the following additional proposal from the Citizens UK Manifesto 2015 that is of interest to me and this constituency: 4. Meet again within a month of being elected to discuss how I can further these commitments. Signed: Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for: Political Party: Date:
THIS COPY TO BE KEPT BY THE PROSPECTIVE PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE
Citizens UK Commitment 2015: Information for Prospective Parliamentary Candidates • Citizens UK is a registered charity (no. 1107264) working to build participation in public life and to develop the skills of effective participation among socially and economically disadvantaged communities. • We are a membership organisation of 350 individual faith communities, schools and colleges, charities, housing associations and more. This commitment is a result of a major programme of research carried out over the past year, to consider what ordinary people and civil society more widely would like from the next government. • Thank you for engaging with our campaign this election, whether it be with our member communities or the diverse groups of individuals in associate membership. Thank you for standing and for your commitment to public life. • You will have been presented with this Citizens Commitment and asked to agree to its terms - request for strong relationship both locally and nationally and requests to put the dignity of those in work, of those left isolated and those seeking sanctuary at the heart of public life. • We recognise the constraints on local candidates both of national party policy but also, given the likelihood of coalition, to making firm personal commitments to deliver change. That is why this commitment focuses on relationship, your agreement to do all you are able, and a request that you help us engage your party leadership on the issues as well. • Thanks again and good luck with your campaign.
To find out more, visit our website at www.citizensuk.org, or contact George Gabriel at george.gabriel@citizensuk.org.
THIS COPY TO BE RETURNED TO CITIZENS UK
Registered charity number: 1107264
Commitment 2015 This Commitment is the culmination of listening to thousands of families in constituencies across the UK. It seeks to put the dignity of the individual at the centre of public life; dignity for those in work, for those left isolated, and for those seeking sanctuary.
As the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for , I hereby commit to write to my party leader encouraging them to meet with Citizens UK before the General Election. Furthermore, I commit that if elected I will work with Citizens UK and do all in my power to: 1. Improve the quality of social care and bring dignity to care workers; with a) care workers trained to nationally-accredited and evidence-based standards; b) care recipients benefitting from a small and consistent team of care workers; c) at least 30 minutes for home care visits beyond basic checks; d) ensuring that care workers are paid at least the Living Wage.This will require minimum pricing standards in social care commissioning and sufficient funding in the system. 2. Put a time limit on adult detention for immigration purposes and end the use of pain-based removal techniques in the immigration process; 3. Take forward the following additional proposal from the Citizens UK Manifesto 2015 that is of interest to me and this constituency: 4. Meet again within a month of being elected to discuss how I can further these commitments. Signed: Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for: Political Party: Date:
THIS COPY TO BE KEPT BY A LOCAL CITIZENS UK MEMBER
Citizens UK Commitment 2015: Information for local members • This Citizens Commitment is at the heart of the campaign by member communities and individual associate members of Citizens UK to put dignity at the heart of the election, for the working, for the isolated and for those seeking sanctuary. • Please use it as the basis for your negotiations with local candidates, seeking to secure each of the minimum commitments on the pledge to the greatest extent you are able. • Candidates can commit to working on some elements of it rather than others but our strong preference is for them to back both Social Care and Sanctuary proposals, as well as the overarching question of relationship. • Try to book in meetings with as many local candidates as you can, taking a disciplined team that has attended a two hour training session with a Citizens UK Organiser to see candidates and to secure their support. • You can add other issues from the Citizens UK Manifesto to the commitment, if they are particularly important locally. Once you’ve trained and negotiated please update the Citizens UK team on your meeting by emailing george.gabriel@citizensuk.org. In your negotiation you should get the candidate to sign three versions of this commitment one for you (this one), one for them, and one for Citizens UK, which should be returned by post, following the instructions on that copy. • We will get the justice we have the power to create. Only by working together, organising and training hard and then going out to candidates can we make real change this election. Thank you for being involved, and good luck! If you’re seeing these materials for the first time and are neither in a member institution or in associate membership please contact George to discuss how you can be involved. • Visit our website at www.citizensuk.org for more information.
THIS COPY TO BE RETURNED TO CITIZENS UK
Registered charity number: 1107264
Commitment 2015 This Commitment is the culmination of listening to thousands of families in constituencies across the UK. It seeks to put the dignity of the individual at the centre of public life; dignity for those in work, for those left isolated, and for those seeking sanctuary.
As the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for , I hereby commit to write to my party leader encouraging them to meet with Citizens UK before the General Election. Furthermore, I commit that if elected I will work with Citizens UK and do all in my power to: 1. Improve the quality of social care and bring dignity to care workers; with a) care workers trained to nationally-accredited and evidence-based standards; b) care recipients benefitting from a small and consistent team of care workers; c) at least 30 minutes for home care visits beyond basic checks; d) ensuring that care workers are paid at least the Living Wage.This will require minimum pricing standards in social care commissioning and sufficient funding in the system. 2. Put a time limit on adult detention for immigration purposes and end the use of pain-based removal techniques in the immigration process; 3. Take forward the following additional proposal from the Citizens UK Manifesto 2015 that is of interest to me and this constituency: 4. Meet again within a month of being elected to discuss how I can further these commitments. Signed: Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for: Political Party: Date: