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"Three times as many women could survive if ovarian cancer was diagnosed at the earliest stage"
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Compulsory volunteering looms
By Indira Das-Gupta, Third Sector, 14 November 2007
The Government is moving closer to making volunteering compulsory for some young people.
The development has sparked concern among voluntary organisations, which would be obliged to report non-attenders to local authorities.
Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, confirmed last week that the Education and Skills Bill would propose that 16 to 18 year-olds would have to take one of three options, including volunteering, or face a fine.
The options are: full-time education at school or college; work-based learning, such as an apprenticeship; or one day a week of part-time education in conjunction with employment, self-employment or volunteering for more than 20 hours a week.
"If young people fail to take up these opportunities, there will be a system of enforcement - very much a last resort - but necessary to strike the right balance between new rights and new responsibilities," Balls told a Fabian Society meeting. "No one will be left out on the basis that it's just not for them - or it's too hard to meet their needs."
A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families confirmed that young people would have to take up one of the options or face a fine, and that volunteering organisations would have to report non-attenders.
A spokeswoman for volunteering charity v said the move would be counter-productive. "We are concerned that stringent compulsory measures could negatively alter the relationship between the organisation and participants," she said.
Rob Jackson, director of volunteering, development and grant making at Volunteering England, said the proposals needed some clarification.
However, he added that his organisation would be concerned if the Government were talking about enforced volunteering.
Other charities said the problem was one of semantics. John Ramsey, head of volunteering at Age Concern England, said: "The problem is terminology. If you replaced the word 'volunteering' with 'community service', then that would be fine. But if you force someone to volunteer, it's not volunteering."
Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, executive director of volunteering charity CSV, echoed Ramsey's view: "Any future legislation would need to address the distinction between volunteer service that is willingly undertaken and can be completed at will, and community service that is the fruitful engagement of those who may face consequences if they fail to show up."
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carl allen, 14 November 2007, 10:47
Few charities include an objective of taking on people under compulsion of community service. If a charity did so regularly, it would have to have that as an objective. If it did that as a trading objective, that is a simple or complex matter depending on one's viewpoint.And as for charities reporting on individual volunteer hours, that simply will not be the case under any circumstances.
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Barrie Duke, 14 November 2007, 22:39
We have worked with community service 'volunteers' for a number of years and they have made some remarkable contributions to our charity.Once we had persuaded the Probation Service to work electronically the reporting on attendances, progress or absences was easy.
It works on the basis of - you volunteer to work with us, in accordance with the parameters set, and we will help develop your skills and abilities -PC working, time management, CV writing, interview techniques etc - all under supervision. We have seen young people into work and helped others understand the role of a charity.
This as an opportunity offered by the charity to those who choose to work with us. The compulsion is not on our side, we do not police anyone but rather act in a mentoring capacity.
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carl allen, 15 November 2007, 12:04
Charities that take on people under compulsion of community service are delivering a public service, for which a contract must exist once there is a requirement to report the hours of attendance. The norms of volunteering would not apply and the charity is placed in an awkard legal position should any adverse event occur.[Report this post]
Sandre Jones, 16 November 2007, 09:26
What an oxymoron. Can we PLEASE not call it volunteering. This is just New Deal in yet another incarnation (been there, done that). If charities are expected to record times and manage unwilling conscripts then they should be paid the costs of this. Not a token "per person". The actual costs.[Report this post]
Paul Edwards, 19 November 2007, 13:09
Isn't compulsory volunteering a contradiction in terms? Isn't the correct term 'conscription'? Do voluntary organisations really want to be weighed down with bolshie 16 to 18 year olds whose only reason for being there is that they have to be? Do they want all the inevitable Government paperwork and required supervision time that will come with it? Far better to call it what it is and conscript young people into exciting national projects like forestry projects to re-build the tree-cover of England that gets kids outside, teaches them to use exciting tools, like chainsaws, and burns off all that youthful energy to good effect while showing them that work can be a satisfying experience.Of course, that would come 'on the cheap, which the Government always thinks it can get from the voluntary sector.[Report this post]
Paul Edwards, 19 November 2007, 13:11
Last sentence: Read as 'Would NOT come 'on the cheap'...[Report this post]
John Wilks, 23 November 2007, 14:25
"Volunteers take one step forward." Why not draft them?So, the Third Sector will soon be policing community service. What next?
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