The All Party Parliamentary Group on the Community and Voluntary Sector is likely to expand its remit to include volunteering, its chair Alun Michael MP said last night.

Speaking at the APPG’s summer reception hosted jointly with NCVO at the Houses of Parliament, Michael (pictured), who recently became chair of the APPG after 23 years as a member, said there was a consensus among parties on the importance of the sector and on the importance of volunteers.

“Beyond that we may disagree on the priorities and the methods, but that consensus does mean there is lots of intelligent debate about how to support and encourage the sector, how to support and encourage community engagement, and how to support and encourage volunteering,” he said.

To this end, he said, the government was considering turning the APPG into the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Community and Voluntary Sector and Volunteering.