According to the latest report from the Church of England, published this week in conjunction with the Trussell Trust, Oxfam, and the Child Poverty Action Group, the current welfare system is failing to act as a basic safety net for some of the most vulnerable people in British society. Like other statements on welfare coming from the Church of England, it’s a report that’s been fairly well-received across the media spectrum. It’s a well-publicised fact that the Trussell Trust, a Christian charity operating on the frontline of British poverty, provides training and support for over 420 foodbanks across Britain, with many more being set up independently in local churches. Foodbanks might not answer all the problems created by welfare cuts and changes, but they do bring the Christian church into close relation with many of those suffering the immediate effects of poverty. It’s widely accepted that the Church knows what it’s talking about.

Religious provision for the poor is not limited to either foodbanks or to Christians. As the state has retreated from the front-line provision of services and support, stretched as it is by austerity measures, it is faith-based communities from all backgrounds that have regularly been the first into the breach. The resources of these community groups – their ability to mobilise volunteers and donations, as well as the range of skills their members have to offer – have made them ideal candidates to cover the gaps in the welfare net. The social capital provided by faith communities is proving to be of immense value.

This social capital was very much evident at Wednesday's FaithAction conference, a day which celebrated the contributions of faith-based groups and organisations to their communities. But what became very clear as the day went on, was that many of the organisations committed to social justice are not content to operate simply as bit-part players, acting as an unofficial stand-in when and where the welfare system failed. They want to get involved in the nitty-gritty of public-service provision in their areas. Many of the organisations at the conference clearly felt that if they could combine their social capital with the financial backing of a local authority, they could be a powerful agent for social change.

With local authorities choosing to outsource more and more of their service provision in a bid to cut costs, the opportunities for faith-groups to get involved in public-service has never been greater. A well-run community group, able to mobilise hundreds of committed volunteers across a local area, has the potential to provide local authorities with a kind of value that is generally beyond the reach of the private sector. This, if nothing else, is something we must have learnt from the London 2012 Olympics.

However there are challenges that must be overcome on both sides, particularly when the word ‘faith’ is bandied about. Clearly there are going to be difficulties for any small to medium-sized charity moving into public service provision, and as was rightly pointed out at the conference, the onus is on faith-based organisations to make sure they are properly resourced and that their affairs are in order, just as it would be for anyone else. State-funded public service provision should not be the aim of every charity.

Then there are also problems that stem from a lack of trust. MP Stephen Timms suggested on Wednesday that local authorities are suspicious of handing power and money to faith groups on two counts. Firstly, they are suspicious that the money will be used for the purpose of evangelisation – that it will be used to recruit members to a particular religious following. Secondly, they are concerned that by handing a contract to one faith group, they are implicitly discriminating against another. Political correctness might advise local councils to keep religious groups at arm’s length. As Demos research has argued, these seem to be relatively unfounded concerns – but that doesn’t stop them from being raised among local authorities unfamiliar with the workings of religious charities and organisations. A lack of trust between religious communities and local authorities has long been a real barrier to religious involvement in public services.

To this end, the APPG on Faith and Society has produced a ‘Covenant’ – a series of promises that can be made between faith groups and local councils, as a way to build trust between the two groups. The Covenant provides a framework in which local authorities can “commit to welcome the involvement of faith groups in the delivery of services and social action on an equal basis with other groups”, while receiving assurances that faith-based organisations will “commit to work actively with local authorities in the design and delivery of services to the public” in an open, inclusive and non-discriminatory way. Birmingham City Council is currently in the process of working with several local community faith groups to flesh out what such a covenant would look like in Birmingham, and it is hoped that the participants will sign a joint declaration early next year. Simply by going through this process of drafting the covenant, it is hoped that better understanding, trust and mutual respect can be fostered, and the way opened for religious groups to play a more official role in the provision of public services in Birmingham.

The BHA and NSS might not like it, but faith groups look set to play an increasing role in public service provision. At a time of growing austerity and a shrinking state, community groups and voluntary organisations are some of the best placed to tackle the demands placed on local authorities. And in an age of increasing individualism and isolationism, it is faith-groups that have so often formed the foundations of community action. If local authorities are to find a way out of the financial straightjacket placed on them by central government, learning to trust and work with faith-based community groups might well be an essential step in the process. For faith groups, this might mean learning to work more inclusively and transparently than they might be used to, but I suspect few will baulk at the opportunity to play a hand in transforming their local communities.

Tom Andrew is a Research Intern at Theos.

Image by Zep 19 from flickr.com under the Creative Commons Licence.