Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Ann Winterton (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 12 December 2007 on behalf of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Third Sector

Question: I think that everyone will praise the contribution made by the voluntary sector in all parts of society in the United Kingdom, but there is an increasing problem in that the population is growing older, and younger and middle-aged people are not volunteering at all. How do the Government propose to surmount that difficulty?

Answer: I know that the hon. Lady takes a close interest in voluntary-sector issues, and she is right to say that we need to do what we can to encourage young people to volunteer. That is the point of the arm’s length organisation v, funded but not run by Government, which is creating new volunteering opportunities for young people all over the country. It has created 200,000 so far, and is on the way to creating a million. As the hon. Lady says, we need to encourage that culture of volunteering among both young people and middle-aged people, among whom I count myself. She will be pleased to learn that v is doing that, and I hope that it will be doing some work in her constituency.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 469 c284
Session: 2007-08
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Voluntary organisations Young people Voluntary work V Finance Grants Social policy Community Development Foundation
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk