The Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan Smith MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 1AA
15 December 2006
I have enjoyed reading Volume 6 of your report, Breakdown Britain: Denying the vulnerable a second chance. I am very pleased that you have highlighted the role of volunteering in combating poverty and social exclusion. I was also very much cheered by the passion, energy and commitment to volunteering demonstrated in this report.
I was particularly struck with your agenda for change, which very much mirrors our own at Volunteering England. Particular issues on which I would like to comment are:
More funding for volunteering infrastructure
We have developed a ten-year modernisation plan for our network of volunteer centres. These are an essential building block of the volunteering infrastructure and play a key role in promoting and supporting volunteering by "hard-to-reach" groups. Government has so far failed to grasp the nettle of funding volunteer centres, in large part because they are somewhat unglamorous. We have put in a bid to the Third Sector Review for funding a modernisation programme, which will radically reorganise the structure of provision, increase the coverage and quality of services, improve cost effectiveness and provide greater flexibility in implementing local, regional and national initiatives. This latter feature may be of interest to you in the light of your strictures on the Government's programmes for volunteering. I attach a copy of our submission, and would be happy to discuss with you how it might fit in with your proposals for change.
Proper investment in volunteer management and support for volunteers
Volunteering England has been working long-term on raising the standard of volunteer management and providing appropriate training for volunteer managers. You might be interested in our Excellence in Volunteer Management and Investing in Volunteers programmes, brief details of which I enclose.
Quicker CRB checks
We welcome your commitment to improving the efficiency of CRB checks, but would also stress that we are concerned, in the light of machinery of government changes, that there are plans afoot to charge volunteers/volunteer-involving organisations for this service. This would amount to a tax on volunteering which would hit potential volunteers, particularly those already struggling with poverty and social exclusion.
Higher profile and higher importance of volunteering
Promoting and supporting volunteering is the mission of Volunteering England, and we welcome your commitment.
Please let me know if you would like any further information and, again, thank you for the report.
With best wishes.
Christopher Spence CBE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
