Hope and Maude get spiky in Commons volunteering debate

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 10 Jun 2008

Labour’s initiatives to boost volunteering are “little more than a lunch, a launch and a logo”, said Conservative MP Francis Maude in a House of Commons debate on volunteering last week.

Maude (pictured) complained that Experience Corps, a volunteering initiative aimed at retired people, had been “abandoned” and that youth volunteering charity v had limited impact and was more “words than action”.

Maude, who has challenged minister for the third sector Phil Hope on the funding of v in the past, said the Conservatives would promote volunteering as the central pillar of the regrowth of civil society.

The Conservative Party announced in a green paper on the voluntary sector last week that it would refocus the Office of the Third Sector as the Office of Civil Society if it gained power at the next election.

Focus ‘should not be on service delivery’, says Hope

However, the Conservative’s proposals were criticised by Phil Hope during the debate, for focusing on volunteers as delivering public services rather than campaigning or lobbying government.

Hope warned the absence of campaigning in the paper meant the Conservatives’ wanted the third sector to be “silent and grateful” instead of advocates of those who were let down by the system. He cited the example of Oxfam who were once “afraid to campaign because the Conservatives were disapproving”.

Elsewhere, the Department of Health has launched a four-month consultation to improve support for volunteers in the NHS, social care and third sector, and to encourage more volunteering opportunities.

Baroness Julia Neuberger, who wrote a report on volunteering in health and social care for the government earlier this year, said she looked forward to seeing how the Department of Health would turn these “wise words” into practical actions on the ground.

Neuberger is releasing a second report, on volunteering in the criminal justice system, later this year. She said this week that the review was proving to be “more complicated” than her report into health and social care.

Who's Who: Vibeka Mair

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.