Voluntary Groups and Community Centres

Stephanie Peacock Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank everyone who contributed to this important debate. I begin by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Ben Coleman) for securing the debate. He is a great representative for the voluntary sector, having held many voluntary roles in the past and maintaining his role as a trustee for a local community centre in addition to his duties as the local MP.

We have had some brilliant contributions today, highlighting just how important voluntary groups and centres are in the role they play up and down the country. I am not sure that the speech from the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French), reflected the tone of the debate. He gave what he said was not an extensive list—I would argue that it was a selective one—but I will touch on some of his points as I progress with my contribution.

First, I will address some of the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham. Some of his questions and asks fall to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, but I will ensure that he gets answers. I will respond to some of his questions now, but for the more technical ones I will ensure that he speaks to the relevant Minister.

My hon. Friend spoke about security of tenure. As a Government, we are introducing a new community right to buy, giving communities the first opportunity to purchase an asset of community value when put up for sale. We also have the common ground award, which will invest up to £10,000 of capital funding into voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations. He asked about tenancy issues, and particularly about local government guidance, all of which fall to MCHLG. My hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis) and others also asked about that, so I will write to Members and suggest to my counterpart that she meet with them.

My hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) gave a very entertaining speech, which touched on a number of issues. He made some important points about community radio. When I was media Minister, I went to visit a number of community radio stations. He spoke about the local covenant partnership. That is about championing collaborative commissioning models, which answers some of his points.

The hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) spoke about loneliness. Yesterday, DCMS was pleased to relaunch the tackling loneliness hub. I will send him some details on that. I was interested to hear the hon. Member for Frome and East Somerset (Anna Sabine), who shared some interesting examples; I would be pleased to discuss them further with her.

I am sure that hon. Members across the House will agree that the work that voluntary organisations and community centres do every single day is incredibly valuable to those who access them. We do not take their work for granted. Indeed, in my Barnsley South constituency, we are lucky to have so many brilliant examples of community centres and voluntary organisations. The shadow Minister gave a very extensive list; I am not sure I will do as well as he did, but I will mention a few: Barnsley Samaritans, Age UK, the YMCA, and local groups such as the Barnsley Foodbank Partnership, the Future Arts Centre at the Barnsley Civic, and BIADS, of which I am proud to be a patron. There are many others across the borough of Barnsley. We also have access to community centres such as the Darfield community centre and the Birdwell community centre. Yesterday, I was delighted to visit the new Parkside one, which is coupled with a sports centre and a more than £4 million investment into Barnsley South.

I know just how important these spaces and organisations are to local people. Community centres are often the site for important milestone events. Whether it be birthday parties, weddings or something else entirely, some of the most treasured memories in people’s lives have taken place in these spaces. That is why the Government are pleased to recognise and celebrate the contribution that they make. I take the opportunity to offer thanks to all those brilliant volunteers who contribute to the running of community centres and get involved with voluntary work each day.

The volunteers who keep these important services running are some of the most talented and driven in our society, and we know they need support. Over the past year, a huge 54% of adults—around 24.8 million people—volunteered at least once, with 33% of adults volunteering at least once a month. Whether that is formal volunteering through established organisations or informally within local communities, it is clear that people across the country are willing to help each other out, giving up their time for the good of others, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) spoke so passionately about. He is absolutely right about the importance of working together. I was pleased to visit a voluntary group when I was in Northern Ireland—I think it was called the Ravine project—and I would be delighted to visit more such groups when I next visit Northern Ireland.

Indeed, I am pleased to visit voluntary groups up and down the country, because this Government want to encourage volunteering. We want to get as many people as possible involved, so that positive change can continue to be delivered across communities by communities. As the Minister for Civil Society, as I have just mentioned, I have had the privilege of visiting some brilliant organisations across the country. They include the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, which shared with me the work it does to encourage people of all ages to get involved in volunteering in a variety of ways. I was particularly pleased to speak to the young volunteers and hear how their experience has helped them to form new social connections.

I was also pleased to meet Ruff and Ruby—a King’s Award-winning youth charity carrying out important work in Stoke-on-Trent, with a new app that connects young people to resources, education, employment, volunteering and suicide prevention—and the brand new Bedworth physical activity hub, which I visited just last week with my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor). That hub serves as an easy-to-access, supportive environment in which people from the community can achieve their health and fitness goals, as well as providing a space for them to connect with their neighbours. During my time there, it became obvious that that hub is a perfect example of how such a centre can become vital for meeting the needs of the community.

It was also a delight to meet a range of charitable organisations at events hosted by the York Centre for Voluntary Services a few weeks ago. I heard about its city-wide volunteering strategy, a five-year plan co-created by charities and the council, making time for volunteering accessible to everyone. At DCMS, we are pleased to pledge support for the Big Help Out this year, which is a national celebration to raise awareness of the impact that volunteering can have. This year, the Big Help Out will be delivered by the Eden Project in Cornwall, which I will be visiting tomorrow to celebrate its 25-year anniversary. I remember when it opened, which makes me feel a little bit old.

The Government have already established our ambition to recognise the value of civil society through the civil society covenant, as a number of Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham, mentioned. The Prime Minister made it clear at the civil society summit in July 2025 that civil society has a home at the heart of Government, and we have established the Civil Society Council, chaired by Kate Lee. That council gives voluntary organisations, such as the brilliant ones that have been mentioned throughout this debate, a voice at the heart of Government, bringing together leaders from charities, social enterprises, philanthropy, faith organisations, community organisations and the youth sector.

The Government also recognise the need to reduce the administrative burden on voluntary organisations. It was great to hear the Chancellor introduce a new VAT relief for charities in the Budget, which establishes that business donations of goods to charities for onward distribution or use in their services will not be subject to VAT. This is in addition to the VAT relief that charities already benefit from, which is estimated to be worth £1 billion for the sector each year. I was delighted to attend a roundtable on this topic, hosted by Amazon and chaired by the former Prime Minister, the right hon. Gordon Brown. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to him for all the work he has done on this issue. This important measure is set to significantly boost the supply of essential items to charities and will come into effect from 1 April this year.

We recognise how important community spaces are for developing social networks, encouraging community participation and promoting civic pride. This Government are committed to giving community groups the ability to own and manage assets for the benefit of the wider community. As I referenced earlier, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will introduce a new community right to buy, giving communities the first opportunity to purchase an asset of community value when it is put up for sale by the owner.

Of course, this is not an issue that we are going to fix overnight, but it is something that the Government are passionate about, as proven by the many colleagues across the House who have enjoyed—enjoyed? I am sure they have—and contributed to this important debate, and I look forward to continuing to work with them.