Volunteering England’s recent policy responses
Watching brief
Watching Brief items remaining from April 2008
Volunteering England’s recent policy responses
Border and Immigration Agency: The path to citizenship - next steps in reforming the immigration system.
The green paper suggests that migrants who apply for British citizenship or permanent residence should demonstrate a commitment to Britain by participating in ‘active citizenship’.
Examples in the green paper include:
- Volunteering with a recognised organisation
- Employer supported volunteering
- Volunteering for short periods overseas
- Running or helping to run a playgroup
- Fundraising activities for charities or schools
- Serving on community bodies i.e. school governor
- Running or helping to run a local sporting team
Amongst other issues it considers encouraging people applying for British citizenship or permanent residence to undertake 'active citizenship' as a method of speeding up their application by two years.
European Parliament Written Declaration calling for a Year of Volunteering in 2011
The European Parliament has recently launched a Written Declaration for the Year of Volunteering in 2011 which will help to promote volunteering and the invaluable contribution made by more than 100 million volunteers across Europe. So far, the European Council of Youth Ministers, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, as well as over 200 other MEPs have already signed the Declaration. Volunteering England and CSV have sent a joint letter to all MEPs to encourage them to sign. The deadline for signing the Declaration is 9th July 2008.
Watching brief
Department of Health: Framework for registration of health and adult social care providers
This document is a response to consultation from the Department of Health who are revising a framework to regulate health and adult social care providers. Currently this is done through three regulators
- the Healthcare Commission
- the Commission for Social Care Inspection
- the Mental Health Act Commission
These three will be merged into the Care Quality Commission which has just been set up under the new Chair Baroness Young. The Care Quality Commission will go live (start inspecting) from April 2009 and will introduce the new framework for inspection in April 2010. This round of consultation is to look at the broad framework for inspection including;
- the minimum requirements for essential safety and quality
- which health and adult social care services should be registered
- whether primary care (GPs) should be registered
There are 18 proposed topics for registration requirements which include references to volunteers.
The deadline for consultation responses is 17 June 2008
Office of the Third Sector: vinvolved launches
The new £75 million national youth volunteering programme vinvolved began in April aiming to involve 500,000 more young people aged 16-25 to volunteer in England over the next three years. With £75 million from the Office of the Third Sector, the youth volunteering charity v is funding third sector organisations to offer a range of volunteering opportunities.
v is establishing 107 local vinvolved teams across England, to promote youth volunteering across local authority areas. These teams will be hosted by local third sector organisations including some Volunteer Centres. They will also be recruiting and working with Youth Action Teams, groups of young people who will act as ambassadors for volunteering amongst their peers.
Department for Communities and Local Government: Guidance for Local Authorities Community Cohesion Contingency Planning and Tension Monitoring
New guidance has been published encouraging local authorities to better map their communities and the people that live there as part of efforts to monitor tensions and promote more cohesive and integrated communities. The guidance is linked to latest data from the Citizenship Survey which shows that 81% of people feel that individuals from different backgrounds get on well together in their local area and that 83% agree that people in their local area respect ethnic differences. The guidance focuses on what councils could do to both prevent and respond to local issues. It seeks to encourage local authorities to be aware of who is living in their area, how they interact and get on with each other.
Department for Communities and Local Government: ‘Safe Moves’ youth mentoring scheme
The Government wants to encourage all local authorities to offer mentoring services to young people as part of a new strategy to drive down youth homelessness, alongside other approaches such as supported lodgings.
The peer mentoring scheme can be delivered in a number of ways: young people can be referred to the scheme by their school, by a local authority or a housing organisation, or they may simply apply direct for support having heard of the scheme through word of mouth or seeing a leaflet or poster in their local community.
Your feedback
If you have any ideas or thoughts about the issues covered in this update please email your comments to policy@volunteeringengland.org
Many thanks
Policy and Information Team
Volunteering England
