Home Office consultation response
The Home Office recently launched a consultation proposing ‘earned settlement‘ as part of immigration reform; one of the proposals in this consultation includes volunteering as a means of earning faster settled status.
In response to the consultation, London Plus has been working with the London Volunteer Centre Network to collate insights and views and produce a joint response.
The response aims to supplement (rather than replace) Volunteer Centres’ individual responses, it offers collective insights and recognises that this is a group with significant expertise and experience in volunteering. This experience includes projects working with migrants, and projects that support and enable asylum-seekers to volunteer.
The network feels very strongly that volunteering must remain voluntary and should always be a choice. Concerns were raised about the increased demands on organisations and volunteering infrastructure, and the additional workload and costs this may create without the resources to support delivery. The sector’s expertise highlights that proposals of this nature risk discriminating against those who are unable to volunteer, and potentially excluding groups who would otherwise contribute meaningfully to their communities.
The response has been submitted to the Home Office and we have offered to support and facilitate further dialogue with the London Volunteer Centre Network in relation to any future proposals related to volunteering.