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Thursday Jun 15, 2006
Volunteers on benefits
Here's a challenge to test the metal of the newly formed Office for the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office: a new leaflet from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says that volunteers on benefits cannot claim lunch expenses from their host organisation.
Travel expenses are OK but, for the DWP, the case against lunch money is clear:
Q: Why doesn't my normal lunch count as an expense?
A: Because the amount of Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance you get is already meant to cover the cost of your basic needs, including lunch.
The problem is that payment of lunch expenses is widely recognised as good management practice - partly because you are asking volunteers to be away from their home and therefore buying lunch is an expense and partly because it's a very small perk.
In the past benefits offices have been more concerned about the number of hours that people spend volunteering, worried that it might stop them finding a job. Now, according to the leaflet, the DWP have woken up to the fact that volunteering helps people get paid work...but volunteers on benefits will have to bring a packed lunch (even though fellow volunteers, who might be in employment elsewhere, can get their lunch paid for).
Volunteer managers are, not surprisingly, up in arms - members of the UKVPMs network are urging people to write to their MPs. Volunteering England has also taken up the protest, pointing out that the new guidance "contradicts a recent NHS publication that was cleared by the Department for Work and Pensions/Jobcentre Plus, in which the chapter on reimbursement clearly states food expenses are legitimate expenses."
Last month, in his first speech as Minister for the Third Sector, Ed Miliband said:
"Volunteering creates a relationship between individuals and communities who would often never meet each other. Millions of people volunteer in our country but how can we expand the reach of volunteering to reach across communities, sectors, age groups and background? How can we build social cohesion and community among young and old, different faiths, different classes with volunteering and mentoring?"
Miliband's job is to co-ordinate third sector policy across government. How he deals with this expenses issue will show us whether his political muscle matches up to his rhetoric.
Posted by Tom Green ( 10:40 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]