Community and Voluntary Sector

Viscount Younger of Leckie Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, allows this House once again to highlight the importance of community work and the role of the voluntary sector in our lives. This has been an excellent debate, and I pay tribute to my noble friend Lady Porter for an excellent maiden speech. I am sure that her experience in government, No. 10 and the City will stand her in good stead for her future contributions in this House.

Speaking of maiden speeches, volunteering happened to be a core theme of my own back in 2010, and it is just as important and relevant now as it was then. What I said in speeches then rather chimes with remarks made by the noble Lord, Lord Parekh, who I see is not in his place. I said that this is

“all about effecting a behavioural and cultural shift for individuals within communities. It is about extending the concept and values of volunteering and self-help from societies and geographical areas where they are working to those where they are not”.—[Official Report, 11/5/11; col. 955.]

As was alluded to by the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan, the voluntary sector contributed £17.8 billion to the UK economy in 2020-21, according to NCVO estimates, equating to approximately 0.8% of total GDP.

Volunteering is indicative of a way of thinking, or a philosophy, based on stepping up and solving problems. Essentially, it is altruism in its purest sense: working to the benefit of others. There are numerous examples of generous and selfless work all over the country, and we have heard many examples this afternoon. In my local area, I witness small groups of people picking up litter along roads, way beyond the boundaries of their own front doors; people generously giving to food banks; and professionals giving their time and expertise pro bono in legal advice clinics, for example. It would be fair to describe volunteering as a British value of which we can all be very proud.

In my role as Minister for Communities back in 2019, I saw much good work undertaken by a small and dedicated team of civil servants embedding themselves in specially targeted communities, such as Wolverhampton. Success was measured by the work these people did to initiate and encourage the development of nascent communities, then backing away when they were operating and flourishing. I witnessed diverse communities mingling and families coming to know each other and becoming firm friends, with their children playing together; thus, a cohesive community, imbued with self-help, was born. It was satisfying to watch that. Can the Minister update the House on the progress of these initiatives, admittedly five years on?

From such work, I urge the Minister to help people lead by example. The nature and number of successfully burgeoning projects should be broadcast both regionally and nationally. I believe that this will generate interest, develop momentum and, I hope, encourage copycat activity in other localities. Is this government policy? I hope the Minister agrees that there is a balance to be struck, so does she also agree with me that the Government should not micromanage the sector? The voluntary sector should be allowed to flourish and do what it does best: use local expertise to help local communities and people.

I want to highlight an example of volunteering that is not often enough honoured, applauded or even venerated: the lifeboats, alluded to by the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan. I do not have an interest to declare, but I have a badge in the form of some yellow wellies on my lapel. A fortnight ago, I was privileged to visit the impressive RNLI centre in Poole, where lifeboats are manufactured and lifeboat personnel trained. More than 10,000 of the operational crew members and around 100 lifeguards are volunteers. A further 14,000 volunteers fundraise and help the charity in other ways. To date, in 2024, the lifeboats have launched around the UK—wait for it—7,307 times, saving 160 lives and helping another 6,795 people, 98% of whom found themselves in difficulty onshore rather than offshore, which is an interesting statistic. We should remember that lifeboat volunteers are often on call and have to drop everything at their jobs or in their beds, if at night, to go and risk their lives in their difficult work.

However, examples of a voluntary spirit do not always take the form of heroism. Sometimes, they just make the world a more tolerable place. Here, I am talking about pubs. The pub in my local village closed about two years ago, but it has been rescued through a funding collaboration by not only villagers but many supporters much further afield. We read of similar stories in the papers.

A line must be drawn between where the state—mostly in the form of local government—is obliged to help and where local communities should support themselves. I think this point chimes with questions raised by the noble Baronesses, Lady Morgan and Lady Scott, and the noble Lord, Lord Addington. Where do the Government think that the line should be drawn? That is perhaps rather a challenging question.

This debate would not be complete without mention of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. It was mentioned yesterday by the noble Lord, Lord Boateng, and today in the Chamber, notably by the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. We know the scheme focuses on young people aged 14 to 24 developing their own programmes, with the gold award the ultimate goal. It is run not just in schools but in youth clubs, hospitals, fostering agencies and prisons. The noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, stole my thunder in reading out a number of key statistics from the award scheme, and the House will be relieved to know that I am not going to repeat these. Will the Minister tell us what commitment the Government are giving to provide our young people with activities that prepare them for—to quote the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme—

“the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life”?

We know that many young people are struggling with mental ill-health and that rising NEET rates are taking their toll. We were made aware of those disturbing figures on Tuesday in the Chamber. Participation in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award helps to engender positive outcomes for young people. They include improved skills and independence, improved social mobility, and improved mental and physical health, including reduced likelihood of mental ill-health in later life. It can also foster non-academic skills and soft skills that can lead to successful career pathways. Can the Minister outline the steps that the Government are taking to engage the young in voluntary work?

Access to youth work and positive activities is directly correlated with a reduction in incidents of anti-social behaviour and low-level crime, and with improvements in school attendance. That is a key point to make. I will now ask the question that was asked by the noble Lord, Lord Addington: to what extent are schools including this in their curriculum? Are they perhaps including the spirit of citizenship? What are the Government doing here?

When given the opportunity, communities are more than capable of coming together and achieving truly astonishing results. This was never clearer than during the lockdowns, when people dropped off supplies at the houses of those who were sheltering. Coronation and jubilee street parties have been a magnificent, visible and prime example of how volunteering to organise a community event can raise people’s drawbridges and bring them out to meet, talk and engage with one and other—sometimes for the first time.

I believe there is more that can be done to encourage people to come out of their front doors, to put away their mobile phones, to not look at the next episode of reality TV, and, simply, to help in their neighbourhood. I look forward to some answers from the Minister.