Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to set up a commission to assess the potential merits of introducing a new legal status to recognise participation in long-term volunteering programmes.

Long-term volunteering programmes provide many benefits, not only to those whose lives are being helped but also to those who take part in them.

Government is committed to supporting social action, including long-term volunteering. We are looking at existing barriers to long-term volunteering and the appropriate way in which these can be addressed.