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Assistance to Communities

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr. Illsley. During a lot of my time in this place, I have been involved in Treasury matters or debates concerning financial crises, banks and everything else, so it is a great pleasure to participate in a debate about something completely different. I have enjoyed hon. Members' contributions because they have made me think a lot more about the voluntary sector and the part played by the literally hundreds of thousands of people who make a great difference to life in our communities. Although the hon. Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt) entreated us not to give a great list of things happening in our own constituencies, I will widen my contribution a little to mention Cornwall. I know we go on a bit about Cornwall, because it is still one of the poorest places, but when we look at the money raised there and the amount of voluntary work that is done, in some of the most difficult circumstances, we see that it is also one of the most generous places. We do not recognise volunteers as much as we should, because they tend to be people who just get on with the job. They do not make a great fuss; they get on and do their bit. They enjoy doing their bit, but they remain important. For example, although we will think about the bad things that happen to a few children, we should also consider the amount of good stuff that is done for children, in particular those who are looked after in our communities. I am thinking of our sports clubs—football, rugby, cricket and swimming clubs—which look after far more children than even some of our uniformed youth organisations. Many people make a commitment to young people through youth clubs and the uniformed youth organisations. I am amazed how many committees quietly get on with community events, such as organising music and drama festivals, or May fairs and pageants. Many people work in schools, hospitals and such. We often see the same people going from one voluntary job to another, but sometimes it is difficult to give them recognition. I do not think that many Members could do their job without the amazing expertise and support of our citizens advice bureaux. Sometimes we find ourselves giving each other cases, but we work on many together. The professionalism of the CAB is tremendous, as is the way in which it has helped not only my constituents, but me. Some people work quietly away in organisations such as the Samaritans. In my area, there is a rather high bridge across the Tamar. Sadly, rather too many people still jump off it, but I know that the Samaritans have prevented a huge number of people from taking their own lives. Some people save lives around our coast, including those in lifeboat organisations—not only those raising money, but those out on the boats risking their own lives to save the lives of others, who have sometimes been rather foolish—and lifeguards in the summer. What would our Cornish tourism sector be like without people who were prepared, even when it is not terribly sunny, to patrol our beaches and look after people who are jumping in the sea? We have hundreds of miles of footpaths in Cornwall, and people dedicate themselves to keeping them open. It is a great thing to be able to walk with a purpose, but these people, without any recognition, do things such as cutting down brambles and making certain that gates are open. Some people visit others in their own homes. We have a tremendous "live at home" scheme that helps to ensure that people are not so isolated at home and to make certain that they are okay. For example, every Thursday afternoon, people will visit others for a cup of tea. Others will regularly visit people in prison, and then there are people who drive Age Concern buses or staff museums—the list goes on. There has to be some way in which we can recognise these people locally or regionally—it will not always be done through the granting of gongs—because they truly make our communities what they are. Perhaps other hon. Members have experienced, like me, the growing problem that volunteers are beginning to find lots of pressures put on them, including due to considerations of their families and work. For example, if people have to work longer hours and travel further to work, they can devote less time to volunteering than their parents or other family members could. Uniformed organisations and youth clubs, in particular, are coming under real pressure because of people's ability to commit to the time necessary to be involved. I regret the bureaucracy that has crept into the system. I understand the need for Criminal Records Bureau checks and so on, but they have undoubtedly made a lot of people apprehensive when they have no need to be—I do not mean about the cost—and not only in respect of working with children. Older people in their 70s and 80s who want to visit other people of the same age can become somewhat apprehensive when they asked what they think about having a CRB check, so they might decide that they do not want to participate. It is terribly sad that we have to think about carrying out a CRB check on an 80-year-old lady who wants to visit somebody else for a cup of tea on a Thursday afternoon. There is now a fear of litigation, particularly in respect of taking groups of children across Dartmoor on the Ten Tors challenge or for training. That is a cause of great sadness. When I did the Ten Tors back in 1962, there were just a few hundred children involved, but now some 2,000 or 3,000 have the opportunity to participate in the challenge of walking across Dartmoor over a certain period. However, ever fewer people are now prepared to take what they perceive as the risk of looking after children, because they fear litigation and everything else that might be visited upon them. We must recognise the three distinct pressures on volunteering that I have set out and get some balance back into the system. When I talk about volunteers, I am referring to people who do things off their own bat for no money whatsoever because they want to do it. They are part of a particular sector and they face particular pressures. However, let me mention how the Government can support the charitable sector, to which they provide financial, legislative and administrative support, and perhaps co-operation and co-ordination. That sector is also having difficulties, the most obvious of which, at times of recession, is underfunding. Charities are concerned that the things that they are doing that are going well and are well received might be cut, or that they might receive a smaller grant. They are also concerned that the funding that they raise themselves, such as for air ambulances, will be reduced if people's disposal income falls and the sums that they are able to give to their favourite charity are reduced. In the current circumstances, we have to recognise that everybody will have to cut their cloth accordingly. Some small yet vital charitable organisations that do valuable work will be hit quite hard. The larger charities, some of which have been mentioned, will probably already have their plan worked out, as they will have done their financial planning and got in place their accountants, professional fundraisers and advertising. While those larger charities might suffer a reduction in their overall funding and finances, I fear that we will see a lot more problems at the smaller end, with people desperately trying to keep their organisations going. I hope that the Government recognise that financial support, in one way or another—particularly through local government—is a vital factor in many organisations' ability to operate.