§ Mr. Roweasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many young people are currently on the volunteer programme; what proportion of the supplementary benefit rate for a single young person the allowance paid to the volunteers represents; and how much the allowance is.
§ Mr. WhitneyI regret that statistics of the age of volunteers participating in the opportunities for volunteering scheme are not available. It is a condition of the scheme that any out-of-pocket expenses and allowances paid by local voluntary projects to volunteers must be such that they do not affect entitlement to social security benefits. The supplementary benefit disregard is £4 a week.
§ Mr. Roweasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what criteria have to be satisfied before an organisation is eligible to administer a scheme under the volunteer programme; and how many such organisations are running programmes;
(2) how many representations he has received about the present limits of the volunteer programme; and if he has any plans to extend the scope of it.
§ Mr. WhitneyGrants under the opportunities for volunteering scheme may be made by 16 national voluntary organizations—15 "specialist" organisations and a consortium led by the Volunteer Centre and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations—which act as agents for an agreed range of local voluntary projects enabling unemployed people to participate in voluntary work in the health and personal social services. About 700 such projects are current at any time.
The scheme was relaunched with some changes at the beginning of April following a review in which those concerned were consulted. The changes have been generally welcomed and we have no plans to consider further changes before some experience of the new arrangements has been gained.
I have placed a copy of the Notes for Applicants for Grants 1986–87, which outlines the scheme, in the Library.