The Conservative Party must “go further” in its engagement with civil society, the shadow culture secretary has said.

Speaking at an event in London today, hosted by the think tank Pro Bono Economics, Stuart Andrew said there “frankly wasn’t enough engagement with the sector” during his time as civil society minister.

“Where we did engage, I hoped that we did try to respond in as positive a way as possible,” he said.

Andrew told attendees that it is time to “be honest about the relationship that sometimes exists between civil society and the Conservative Party”, saying the party has “got to go further” in its engagement with the sector.

“As long as I am shadow secretary of state, I want to make sure that we have regular engagement with you [...] because the sector makes a massive contribution to the UK.

“If those services were not there, the cost to the Treasury and the taxpayer would be, frankly, enormous, so it is right that we have that proper conversation.”

Andrew said the party had started to ramp up its engagement, starting with holding a series of roundtables with each of the varying sectors, including civil society.

He said: “We want to hear directly – what are the questions that we as a party should be thinking about, what are the policies we need to be developing, what are the things that can help you to continue to do your work, and what are the big issues that you face?”

Andrew acknowledged that some of these issues might not have changed since he was a minister, pointing to ongoing complications regarding public service contract delivery, challenges around regulation and the need for longer-term grant funding.

He said: “I can’t say here and now that we will say yes to all of those, but what I do want to know is what you think are those big issues. That will help us think about that policy formation.”

Andrew added that it was also the opposition party’s job to hold the government to account, saying: “I have said to [culture secretary] Lisa Nandy that I want to be a constructive opposition. Not just attack all the time, but actually raise issues that have been raised with me so that she can hear it from all directions.”

Andrew said the Conservatives want to hold the government accountable when “we think there are serious mistakes being made”, pointing to the rise in employer National Insurance Contributions.

“We know that is a major cause of concern for so many charities up and down the country. Estimates suggest a £1.4bn cost on the sector and that is an enormous amount of money.

“So we will continue to make that point in parliament and make sure that your voice is heard,” Andrew said.