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LAST UPDATE: JANUARY 27, 10:34

PM PRAISES EVANGELIST'S WORK

PRIME Minister David Cameron has visited a Church Army evangelist whose outreach work in Oxfordshire is having a positive impact on the community.
Evangelist Jeff Hill lives and works in Mr Cameron’s Witney constituency, where he has established a number of projects including a night-time café attended regularly by more than 100 people, a Street Pastors initiative and various groups for families and children.
Mr Cameron met with Jeff at St Mary’s Church where they were joined by the Rector of Witney Toby Wright, Church Army’s Director of Mission Support Neil Biles and volunteers Guy Plowman and Dominic Baker.
During the meeting the group discussed how Church Army could work in partnership with churches to contribute to Mr Cameron’s vision of the Big Society. They also talked about Church Army’s work in Witney and about the value of volunteering.
When hearing about the night-time café which takes place in Witney’s Market Place on a Saturday evening, Mr Cameron said: “It’s great, because you’ve found a model that works which is meeting a need. The State is not always very good at the personal, the emotional, the niche, and this is where I think the Big Society absolutely comes in, because you’ve got the creativity in people coming up with ideas like this.”
The group also talked about the need to create projects that were self-sustaining and Mr Cameron said: “One of the things we’re doing as a Government in order to encourage the Big Society is to look at the whole issue of how to encourage and train community organisers – particularly in deprived communities.
"We’d really like community organisers to be able to build a project, make it sustainable and then move on to build another project.”
After the meeting, Jeff Hill said: “It’s been a real privilege to meet with the Prime Minister and to share how Christians are investing in their communities. I’d like to thank all the volunteers who work alongside me for their willingness to serve others. When we work together, we can make a real difference.”
BISHOP DEMANDS ANSWERS OVER TAX DODGING
THE Bishop of Derby has pressed the issue of tax dodging in the House of Lords.
Bishop Alastair Redfern asked the Government what steps it was taking to ensure that multinational corporations are "compliant and transparent" in their dealings with developing countries.
The Lords debate was welcomed by Christian Aid, which estimates that poor countries are losing around $160 billion a year because of tax dodging by multinational companies, a figure that equates to more than the amount they receive in aid.
Baroness Northover gave assurances of the Department for International Development's commitment to "promoting responsible business conduct" by multinational companies in their dealings with developing countries.
She added that the UK was working in partnership with the Ethical Trading Initiative to promote better working conditions in the supply chains of its member companies.
Bishop Redfern asked the Government to ensure that companies working in developing countries pay the taxes they owe.
The Treasury’s Commercial Secretary, Lord Sassoon, replied by saying that the Government was working to bolster developing country tax administrations to ensure that they can collect the taxes due to them.
Christian Aid’s Principal Economic Justice Adviser, David McNair, welcomed the bishop’s questions and urged the Government to push for legislation to ensure profits made in developing countries cannot be hidden offshore.
He said: "Christian Aid is delighted that the issue of tax justice is being examined in the House of Lords.
"The matter of lost tax revenues from the world’s poorest countries is an ethical and moral issue on which faith leaders are beginning to take a lead.
"We now need action at a political level, to ensure transparency between multinational companies and the developing countries where they operate."
BUYING ADVICE FOR CHURCHES GOES ONLINE
CHURCHES feeling the financial pinch can take advantage of a new website to be launched this month – aimed at helping them purchase the items they need!
ParishBuying.org.uk has been developed by the Church of England's Parish Buying Service and features favourable deals negotiated on a range of products and services such as gas and electricity, office supplies, IT software and fire safety.
The deals have been struck by the Church's two National Procurement Officers and are expected to save parishes around £10m a year in total.
Stephen Marriott, Guildford Diocesan Secretary and chair of the National Procurement Group, said, “This new service is designed to save time and money. It has come from the thinking of a well-informed team in whose mind the needs and potential benefits is uppermost. It is timely too.
"I’m confident that it will be of potential benefit to every parish, particularly when many are finding the current financial climate challenging.”
In addition to parish churches, the service is also being made available to cathedrals, clergy, dioceses and church schools.
Dr John Preston, National Stewardship Officer, said: “This is not just about saving money, although we are aiming for annual savings of £10m.
“The Parish Buying service will help parishes both to buy with confidence, knowing contracts have been professionally negotiated, and to be better stewards of their spending.”
The website is part of a wider effort in the Church to help parishes manage their spending. Later in the year, parishes will be invited to take up training, from short
sessions offering “20 ways to save your parish money”, to full-day “cost control training” aimed particularly at helping parishes that are embarking on major capital projects.
The website has been in its pilot phase since November and launches in full on 30 January.