Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 71 of the report by Demos entitled, Shopping for Good, if he will implement the recommendation to set up clear communication channels with local charity shop managers on the voluntary nature of placements.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Jobcentre plus already has clear communication channels set up with employers including charitable organisations. DWP’s National Employer and Partnership Team work with 10 well known charities such as Barnado’s, British Heart Foundation and others to make over 62,000 volunteering and work experience opportunities available to Jobcentre Plus claimants. These are then communicated through the Jobcentre Plus network. As part of the process employer advisers discuss the voluntary nature and terms of the placement with the placement host as part of their signing of their Employer Agreement.
Jobcentre Plus will continue to develop learning and products to further support the conversations held with employers and charitable organisations when setting up voluntary placements.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to introduce a new workplace entitlement to volunteering leave for three days a year.
Answered by Margot James
The Government is keen to see greater corporate responsibility on the part of employers and to encourage the public sector, charities and businesses to consider their impact on society. Employer-supported volunteering can help to build stronger communities and a stronger economy, by helping charities and community groups to do more and by creating a more motivated and productive workforce. Many public sector organisations and businesses already run impressive volunteering programmes.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to bring forward proposals for three days of paid volunteering leave for employees.
Answered by Margot James
The Government is keen to see greater corporate responsibility on the part of employers and to encourage the public sector, charities and businesses to consider their impact on society. Employer-supported volunteering can help to build stronger communities and a stronger economy, by helping charities and community groups to do more and by creating a more motivated and productive workforce. Many public sector organisations and businesses already run impressive volunteering programmes.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many places have been provided on the Small Charities Fundraising Training Programme in (a) 2106 and (b) 2017.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
The Fundraising Training Programme is a fantastic opportunity for staff from small charities to learn new digital skills and strengthen their ability to fundraise.
The Office for Civil Society’s training delivery partners provided over 3,000 places on the pilot programme in 2016. From 6 July 2017 onwards, there will be more than 10,000 places available at face-to-face training sessions, intensive one-to-one advice sessions, skilled volunteering matches, and webinars. Along with these learning opportunities, the programme providers offer a range of online resources, toolkits, and guides to ensure that small charity staff have access to everything they need to effectively fundraise.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department is providing to charities to help them adopt digital technology for fundraising.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Government is committed to building the resilience and independence of smaller charities. Through our ongoing dialogue across the sector, we know that small charities want more support to fundraise effectively through better use of digital technology.
In recognition of this, the Office for Civil Society in England are providing a multi-year programme of fundraising training and support. This includes expert support to build the digital fundraising capabilities of small charities through face-to-face training, intensive one-to-one advice sessions, skilled volunteering matches and webinars.
The training will be provided at little or no cost and the providers will also develop and share fundraising training resources and toolkits to support small charities who might not be able to attend training.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department provides to small charities for fundraising training; and if she will increase the level of such support given.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
Government is committed to building the resilience and independence of smaller charities. In recognition of this, the Office for Civil Society in England are providing a multi-year programme of fundraising training and support. The aim is to help small, local charities build their fundraising skills, knowledge and confidence through face-to-face training, intensive one-to-one advice sessions, skilled volunteering matches and webinars. The training will be provided at little or no cost and the providers will also develop and share fundraising training resources and toolkits to support small charities who might not be able to attend training.
Asked by: Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to repeal section 1 of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920 in so far as that provision applies to voluntary work by persons under the age of 16 engaged in heritage railways, canal charities and similar undertakings.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Government has no current plans to repeal this legislation, but we are keeping the legislation under review. We appreciate the valuable work done by the organisations mentioned, and understand that young people may benefit from volunteering, but it is important that young people in employment, whether volunteers or paid employees, work safely in suitable environments.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to repeal section 1 of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act 1920 insofar as that provision applies to voluntary work by persons under the age of 16 engaged in heritage railways, canal charities and similar undertakings.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government has no current plans to repeal this legislation, but we are keeping the legislation under review. We appreciate the valuable work done by the organisations mentioned, and understand that young people may benefit from volunteering, but it is important that young people in employment, whether volunteers or paid employees, work safely in suitable environments.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question
To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to increase provision of spiritual guidance in prisons.
Answered by Caroline Spelman
Chaplains (both employed and voluntary) work in teams, and in many places these are well supported by local churches and Christian charities. The work of Prison Fellowship, Reflex, Community Chaplaincy and other such organisations is especially important in this regard.
There is an Anglican chaplaincy presence in every prison. When vacancies arise, dioceses work with the National Offender Management Service to support the process of appointing a suitable person. While Chaplains are employed within NOMS, Church of England Chaplains are licensed by their local bishop and bishops are being encouraged to support chaplains in their areas. Bishops provide endorsement and often convene Diocesan meetings to support those in chaplaincy as well as chaplains attending deanery and diocesan events from time to time. The Bishop to HM Prisons (the Lord Bishop of Rochester) is also working with the Chaplain-General and others about arranging an event specifically for Church of England Chaplains.
The Bishop to Prisons is also one of the sponsors of a new national initiative called Prison Hope. This has the intention of strengthening the links between chaplaincy, local churches and Christian and wider community organisations. This initiative was launched at HMP Pentonville in October, and will run through 2017 into 2018. It has significant potential to increase the level of prison volunteering, to the benefit of prisoners, those who work in prisons, victims of crime and wider communities.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what character education grants were awarded to organisations and schools from 2014 to 2016; what was the value of each grant awarded; who were the recipients of each grant awarded; and what was the purpose and impact of those grants.
Answered by Lord Nash
Character Education Grants were awarded to 14 organisations to run programmes in 2015/16. This grant programme was part of the Government’s commitment to help schools ensure that more children develop a set of character traits, attributes and behaviours that underpin success in education and in work. Grants were awarded to organisations either to encourage the expansion of existing projects that demonstrated character education or to support new and innovative projects to develop promising approaches in this area.
Grant recipients were responsible for commissioning evaluations of their activity, a number of which have been published by the grant recipients. We have not conducted centrally an assessment of the overall impact of the grants.
The table below provides details of each recipient, the value of each grant, and a description of the activity undertaken by each organisation.
Organisation | Value of Grant (£) | Activity |
Premier Rugby Limited | £556,494 | Inspired by the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Premier Rugby Limited, together with 14 professional rugby clubs, designed and delivered new character-based programmes in primary and secondary schools. These programmes provided classroom-based and physical activities based on the core rugby values of respect, teamwork, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship. A complementary 33-week intensive programme targeted 16 to 18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET), including character building activities, qualifications, work experience and employability skills. |
St John Ambulance | £254,911 | St John Ambulance delivered a programme of first aid training aimed at building a nation of resilient, confident and motivated young first aiders. The programme also aimed to develop community spirit and conscientiousness, and to raise aspirations. |
The Scout Association | £302,299 | The Scout Association ran a pilot project called “Scouting by Doing” in partnership with Demos. The pilot, run in six schools in the South East and the Midlands, sought to tackle the barriers to character education in deprived areas by equipping schools to deliver school-based Scouting activities to children aged 8 to 10. The programme aimed to develop robust evidence on the effectiveness of different approaches and to produce a scalable framework and online toolkit to be made freely available to all schools. |
The University of Birmingham | £201,895 | With support from the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at the University of Birmingham, the purpose of this programme was to develop and pilot an innovative suite of teaching materials and methods building on existing research about how character education could be taught through established curriculum subjects. |
The Challenge Network | £315,734 | The Challenge Network aimed to up-scale its HeadStart programme to a further 1,900 16 to 18 year olds across London and Birmingham. The purpose of this programme was to develop a range of positive character traits and work readiness by challenging young people to commit at least 16 volunteering hours in return for a guaranteed interview for a part-time job with a major business. |
Youth Sport Trust | £95,527 | Through this programme the Youth Sport Trust implemented a new programme aimed at developing PE lessons and resources to build in young people the essential character traits that help them to succeed. |
Floreat Education | £124,002 | Floreat Education developed and piloted a character virtue development programme for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils in its two free schools. The project included teacher training and the development of story-based teaching resources, supported by activities to build pupils’ character. |
PSHE Association | £137,000 | The PSHE Association developed and piloted a PSHE character curriculum from key stages 1 to 4 in 10 schools. |
CSN Community Interest Company | £79,945 | CSN Community Interest Company worked with mental health charities to expand its “summit programme” aimed at building core character traits and resilience in disadvantaged young people. The programme involved a targeted intervention programme, school workshops, and intensive residential courses. |
The Prince’s Trust | £584,366 | The Prince’s Trust expanded its XI programme, which aimed to increase motivation, confidence and resilience to support future success. It introduced timetabled activity in schools linked to wider curricula covering volunteering, life skills, and other character-building projects such as extra-curricular sports and outdoor activities. |
City Year UK | £334,206 | Through this project, City Year UK provided four schools where more than half of pupils were eligible for the pupil premium with a team of full-time volunteer corps members aged 18 to 25 plus a full-time member of City Year staff. The overall aim of the intervention was to improve attendance, behaviour, engagement and attainment. Activities delivered through the programme included running breakfast clubs, supporting pupils in class, being a role model and a presence for inclusion and good behaviour at break times, eating meals with students, and offering a range of after-school activities such as homework clubs, debate clubs and social action projects. |
The King’s School | £193,784 | The King’s School worked in a consortium with four secondary schools in Devon to pilot a character-building programme, with a particular focus on disadvantaged children. The programme aimed to focus on four key character traits of resilience, leadership, community and curiosity through a range of approaches including mentoring, volunteering, and outdoor enrichment and enterprise activities. The programme also aimed to train staff in effective approaches to building character and developing resilience, and included a strong focus on raising aspirations, particularly in STEM careers. |
The Church of England Education Office | £124,820 | The Church of England Education Office piloted “what-if learning”, a cross-curricular model developed by an international partnership of educators. This aimed to equip teachers with a practical approach to promoting the development in the classroom of those positive virtues and character traits which lead to success in learning and increased engagement in community and voluntary activities. |
Young Enterprise | £162,495 | Through this programme, Young Enterprise aimed to support 200 15 to 18 year olds with special educational needs or disabilities within 20 schools or centres with an intensive programme to develop the essential character traits needed for success in employment and life through practical experiences of work. Through the programme, young people worked together to plan, set up and run a company or social enterprise. They took part in a number of enterprising activities supported by inspirational local volunteers from the world of work. |