Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what events will be held in Northern Ireland to launch the Big Help Out in 2024.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
My department is funding and supporting the launch of the 2024 Big Help Out, taking place 7 - 9 June this year, aiming to raise awareness of volunteering and to provide opportunities for people to support their communities.
The Government does not organise events itself, but we understand that plans are in development for the Big Help Out in Northern Ireland with Volunteer Now supporting Shaping the Future member organisations to host two events in Belfast and Enniskillen on 7 June 2024.
Millions of people took part in last year’s Big Help Out with a huge range of charities and voluntary organisations providing people with the opportunity to try out and experience volunteering. All 11 local government districts in Northern Ireland participated last year.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what encouragement they are providing to businesses to promote and encourage volunteering amongst employees.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises how vital volunteering is for society, reaping benefits for those who volunteer as well as the organisations they assist. The Government aims to remove barriers which prevent people from getting involved.
HM Government wants to see employers develop their own strong corporate responsibility programmes and to encourage businesses, the public sector and charities to consider the role that employer-supported volunteering can play as part of their impact on society.
HM Government strongly encourages employers to consider offering volunteering leave as part of their employee benefits package. Employees have the right to reasonable time off work to carry out specified public duties, as established in Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Time off for other voluntary duties is a matter for individual employers as they balance their business needs.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of COVID-19 on the number of volunteers in the charity sector, and what steps they are taking to support charities to recruit a sufficient number of volunteers.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
His Majesty’s Government recognises how vital volunteering is for society, reaping benefits for those who volunteer as well as the organisations they assist. The Government aims to remove barriers which prevent people from getting involved.
The Government’s Community Life Survey shows that approximately 7 million people in England (16%) took part in volunteering with groups and organisations at least once a month in 2021/22. This is in line with rates recorded in 2020/21 (17%) and lower than before the pandemic.
HM Government funded the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) to carry out the ‘Time Well Spent’ survey on volunteer experiences, which was published in June 2023. We are also working closely with the Vision for Volunteering, and funding it this financial year. This is a strategic initiative from the voluntary sector to lead the ongoing support and development of volunteering in England with the aim of changing the volunteering landscape for the better by 2032.
My Department has also funded several other initiatives to support volunteering. The Volunteering Futures Fund supports organisations to develop more inclusive volunteering opportunities. The Know Your Neighbourhood fund aims to widen participation in volunteering and to tackle loneliness. We also provided funding for the Big Help Out the day after the Coronation of His Majesty The King, on 8 May 2023, which encouraged people to help out in their communities and to volunteer with charities in their local area.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases in the cost-of-living on trends in the level of social isolation; and whether her Department is taking steps to help tackle social isolation.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Many people experience loneliness and social isolation, and the government is committed to building a more connected society, where everyone is able to build meaningful relationships. Having strong social relationships plays an important role in our physical and mental wellbeing, and government, local councils, health systems and voluntary and community sector organisations all have an important role to play in tackling loneliness.
The Community Life Survey, which the department publishes annually, measures loneliness and collects data on people’s social interactions and support networks. Last year we also published research into the factors associated with loneliness in adults, and found that being on a lower income or unemployed was a contributing factor. We also engage regularly with stakeholders like the Jo Cox Foundation, who are monitoring the impact of cost of living pressures on individuals and charities providing services that aim to reduce loneliness.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is also delivering the ‘Know Your Neighbourhood Fund’ to boost volunteering and reduce loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England. The £30 million fund will create thousands of opportunities to bring people together, allow them to develop skills, build relationships and feel more connected to their community.
As announced at the Spring Budget, the department is also delivering a £101.5 million package of support for charities and community organisations in England. As part of this, the £76 million Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund is currently open until 16 October 2023 for applications from frontline organisations, including those that tackle social isolation, that are seeing increased demand for their services and increased delivery costs because of cost of living pressures.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to encourage businesses to launch corporate volunteering programmes.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government wants to see employers develop their own strong corporate responsibility programmes and to encourage businesses, the public sector and charities to consider the role that employer-supported volunteering can play as part of their impact on society.
The Government strongly encourages employers to consider offering volunteering leave as part of their employee benefits package. Employees have the right to reasonable time off work to carry out specified public duties, as established in Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. However, time off for other voluntary duties is a matter for individual employers.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) conservation and (b) other charities on (i) creating more volunteering opportunities for people with (A) dementia, (B) mental health challenges and (C) disabled people and (ii) the establishment of social prescribing programmes to help support people with health requirements volunteer.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Volunteering is critical to a vibrant and resilient civil society. It benefits volunteers and the organisations involving them and has transformational impacts on beneficiaries and their communities. We want to see as many people getting involved and taking action on the causes that mean the most to them.
DCMS is an active partner in the sector-led Vision for Volunteering, a ten-year initiative that aims to make volunteering more equitable, diverse and inclusive. We regularly engage with a range of charities and other volunteer-involving organisations to understand both the challenges and opportunities in relation to volunteering.
In addition, we are specifically investing to support people to overcome barriers to volunteering. In 2021, DCMS launched the Volunteering Futures Fund which provides over £7 million, including match funding, to improve the accessibility of volunteering. As a result, thousands of young people, people with disabilities, those experiencing loneliness and other barriers have the opportunity to volunteer and help others.
Social prescribing also has an important part to play in supporting people into volunteering. In 2021 and 2022, a number of DCMS arms length bodies, including Arts Council England, Historic England and Sport England, partnered with the National Academy for Social Prescribing to deliver the £1.8m Thriving Communities Programme, which supported 37 projects across England. Projects used the power of culture and heritage alongside nature, sport, health and financial support to benefit the wellbeing of communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help provide access for refugees in urban areas to (a) leisure and sports facilities and (b) volunteering opportunities to help assist with their integration into that community.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Integrating refugees into their communities is very important. Leisure and sport, and volunteering, play a huge part in this.
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and vital in connecting communities. Sport England is responsible for growing and advocating for grassroots sport and physical activity in England and does this through a variety of interventions. This has included a delivery pilot funded by Sport England to engage refugee and asylum seekers in sport and physical activity in Halifax. That programme has received a positive reception so far and Sport England are exploring how to sustain this work in the longer term.
Volunteering is critical to a vibrant and resilient society. It benefits both volunteers and charitable organisations, and creates transformational impacts for beneficiaries and their communities.
This Government is committed to enabling people to take part in all forms of social action, including volunteering. We know the profound benefit that volunteering has on the individual, on communities and on society.
Through the £7.4m Volunteering Futures Fund, we are creating thousands more volunteering opportunities to improve accessibility of volunteering in the arts, culture, sports, civil society, youth and heritage sectors. The fund is helping a diverse range of people to access the benefits volunteering can bring. There is a strong focus on young people, those experiencing loneliness, those with disabilities and those from ethnic minority backgrounds. We also work in partnership with the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) which supports communities from migrant backgrounds.
In addition, volunteering is supported by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector and this government supports VCSE through initiatives such as Vision for Volunteering. We recognise the specific needs of refugee communities and, for example, made sure the Homes for Ukraine scheme was well connected with VCSE organisations in this space.
Refugees are free to volunteer and asylum seekers can also volunteer whilst their claim to become refugees is considered. It is this government's policy to support asylum seekers volunteering for charities or public sector organisations.*
*Home Office (October 2022) Permission to work and volunteering for asylum seekers
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps she has taken to ensure the fair treatment of volunteers within the voluntary and charitable work sector.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Volunteering is critical to a vibrant and resilient civil society; it benefits volunteers and the organisations involving them and has transformational impacts on beneficiaries and their communities.
This Government is committed to enabling people to take part in all forms of social action, including volunteering. We know the profound benefit that volunteering has on the individual, on communities and on society.
Volunteers do not have a contract of employment as a volunteer, so do not have the same rights as an employee or worker, and are not placed under the same obligations. However, they will usually be given a volunteer agreement that explains:
the level of supervision and support they will get
what training they will get
whether they are covered under the organisation’s employer or public liability insurance
health and safety issues
any expenses the organisation will cover.
The volunteer agreement is not a contract, but it is a good way of setting out what volunteers can expect from the organisation they are volunteering for. You can find information about this at https://www.gov.uk/volunteering/pay-and-expenses. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) also has information on volunteers’ legal status and guidance on solving volunteer problems.
If a volunteer believes they are treated unfairly, there is recourse available to them through a variety of means. Volunteers for charities are able to raise concerns to the Charity Commission. The Health and Safety Executive, Disclosure and Barring Service, and the Information Commissioner's Office are also useful points of contact.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - North West Durham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing support with fuel costs to (a) mountain rescue teams, (b) the RNLI and (c) other voluntary organisations and their volunteers who provide vital public services as charities.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We recognise this is a worrying time for many organisations, including charities, that are facing pressures due to the significant increases in global gas prices.
In the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, the government announced a temporary 12 month cut to duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre. This is the biggest cut, in cash terms, that has ever been applied across all fuel duty rates at once.
We will continue to monitor the impact of fuel costs on volunteers and voluntary sector organisations. More information on volunteers’ pay and expenses is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to tackle potential barriers to volunteering; and whether she plans to make funding available to tackle those barriers.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that volunteering is critical to a vibrant and resilient civil society; it benefits volunteers and the organisations involving them and has transformational impacts on beneficiaries and their communities.
As a department, we are focused on simplifying routes into volunteering and seeking to make volunteering more inclusive.
Through the £7.4 million Volunteering Futures Fund, volunteering opportunities are being created to remove barriers to volunteering in arts, culture, sports, civil society, youth and heritage sectors. Young people, people with disabilities and those experiencing loneliness will be given the opportunity to volunteer and help others. DCMS is investing £6.25 million in the fund, together with £1.17 million provided by matched funders.
Our delivery partners for this programme are the Arts Council England, NHS Charities Together and Pears Foundation. The 19 Arts Council England funded projects will work with over 160 partners across heritage, arts, libraries, festival, community and sport organisations to increase accessibility to volunteering.
We are also supporting the development of the sector-led Vision for Volunteering, through which an ambitious ten year action plan is being developed to improve the volunteer experience. One of the five themes of the Vision is ‘Equity and Inclusion’, in recognition of the barriers that some people face to participating in volunteering.