Time Banking

(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)

Tuesday 27th February 2024 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stuart Andrew)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Bardell. I thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock) for securing this debate on the potential merits of Government support for time banking and for an insightful speech on the benefits that she has clearly witnessed herself.

For me, volunteering is vital to society. As a Government, we are strongly committed—and I am personally—to supporting volunteering in all its forms. I thank all volunteers who contribute their time and energy to support others. They make a real difference in their communities. Our latest figures show that about 25 million people in England had volunteered at least once in the previous 12 months. That is a huge number of people making a positive impact in their communities.

I was delighted to take part in the launch event for this year’s Big Help Out campaign, which will take place from 7 to 9 June. It will help to raise awareness of volunteering throughout the United Kingdom and will provide opportunities for people to experience volunteering, often for the first time. Without doubt, the British public’s enthusiasm for volunteering was evident in last year’s campaign, during the celebration of the coronation of His Majesty the King, with more than 6.5 million people volunteering on that day. I hope that we can see even more people take part this year. I am sure that hon. Members present will join me in supporting the campaign.

I am also grateful to all those who did so much during the pandemic. Many people in our country would not have had the help and support that they needed, were it not for amazing volunteers up and down the country. We must not forget, however, that quality volunteering requires effort and support, so I also take this opportunity to put on the record my thanks to the people who make volunteering happen and who work tirelessly for volunteers every day.

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith for highlighting the vital work that time banking plays in volunteering. As she rightly pointed out, recruitment and retention of volunteers is an increasing problem for charities, in particular the small local ones. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ “Time Well Spent” survey, which was funded by my Department, indicated that the primary barrier to volunteering among non-volunteers is not wanting to make an ongoing commitment. That is where offering incentives can be an excellent way to encourage people to try out volunteering. Who knows, they might then want to make an ongoing commitment.

As the hon. Lady mentioned, she has sat for more than seven years on the advisory group of Leith Time Bank in her constituency. Reading about some of its work, it is good to see that from its inception her work has helped to promote the time bank concept to a wider audience. I, too, read the story of the 80-year-old man who is visually impaired. It is fascinating to listen to his experience, providing one-to-one Spanish and French lessons in a local café, which is amazing. She also gave an example of someone who is clearly a master of making soup—maybe I should try some.

What the hon. Lady highlighted throughout her contribution was the true two-way nature of volunteering, and how it can bring communities together. That is why, in recognising the value of volunteer rewards schemes, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has had a hand in supporting their development. Between 2017 and 2020, Tempo Time Credits received a DCMS grant to help it to scale up from its origins in Wales, to pilot three new hubs in England. As the hon. Lady said, volunteers involved in the time credits programme felt more involved in community activities, healthier and more socially connected.

Tempo has continued to do magnificent things, and now has more than 15,000 volunteers registered on its platforms. Similar initiatives have had equally significant impacts in other sectors, including the arts and the creative industries. In West Yorkshire, in my area, the Leeds Creative Timebank, established in 2010 with Arts Council England funding, has helped to create a thriving social economy for the arts across Leeds, by facilitating the exchange of information and support among its members.

There is no doubt that time banking can be fantastic for rewarding and recognising volunteers. It is truly striking to see how time banking can help to foster those social connections and help local communities and economies to thrive. Funding from the Government in that space has helped to test this innovative model.

I know that there are barriers still to overcome, to ensure that everyone who wants to can volunteer. We are committed to encouraging and enabling volunteering across the country, and to improving volunteering experiences. That includes supporting the next generation of volunteers and enabling them to create a lifelong habit of volunteering. Rewarding and recognising volunteers is a pivotal way to encourage more people to get involved and volunteer.

My Department works closely with No. 10 to co-ordinate the Points of Light awards, whereby the Prime Minister recognises outstanding individuals and volunteers who are making real changes in their communities, inspiring others. Those awards are an essential part of telling the story of the impact of volunteering across the UK. Beyond our work to recognise volunteers, we are providing funding, and working with an extensive range of partners, to ensure that there are clear entry points for volunteering.

Another key initiative is the Vision for Volunteering, which is a voluntary sector-led initiative to develop volunteering in England over the next 10 years. The Government supported the Vision from the outset, sitting on its advisory boards and lending support to voluntary organisations that are taking the work forward. One of the themes of the Vision is to increase equity and inclusion, ensuring that volunteering is accessible and welcoming to everyone, wherever they may be.

Last year, we announced the Know Your Neighbourhood fund, with a funding package of up to £30 million, including £10 million from the National Lottery Community Fund. That funding is widening participation in volunteering and tackling loneliness in 27 of the most disadvantaged areas of the country.

I am glad that the hon. Lady mentioned loneliness. I have the pleasure of being the Minister for loneliness, and I have seen how important volunteering is as a tool for making social connections and tackling loneliness in all the age groups that suffer from it. I have given a brief glimpse of the vast work that is going on to support volunteering; I am immensely proud of what we are doing to back volunteering and enable more people to benefit from activities.

I am really glad that we have had this debate, because we all share the same ambition to support volunteers to make a real difference in their communities. We will continue to test and support many ways to encourage and enable people to take part. It is heartening to see how time banking can successfully incentivise and reward volunteers. I thank everyone who is involved.

I extend an offer to meet, as the hon. Lady requested, because I am always interested to hear about innovative ways to get all our communities working together. Day in, day out, I see the value of people volunteering, whatever form their role may take. It is a crucial tool for getting communities working together, making social connections and breaking down the barriers to talking about loneliness. The stigma around loneliness is still one of the biggest issues we face. I would be more than happy to meet to discuss what can be done. I make the caveat that I do not have a great big pot of money at my disposal, but I am sure there are innovative things that we can think about to spread the gospel about how people can get involved in their community. I thank the hon. Lady sincerely for her debate.

Question put and agreed to.