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Mr. David Stewart (Inverness, East, Nairn and Lochaber) (Lab): May I start by congratulating the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) on his initiative in bringing forward this Bill?
In general terms, I am supportive of many aspects of it. Like many right hon. and hon. Members today, I want to congratulate the thousands of volunteers across the country who give tremendous support to our social and sporting organisations. I can also see lots of links with other aspects. One key aspect involving sport is the fight against obesity across society, which is one of the most worrying factors in health care today. I declare an interest as secretary of the all-party group on diabetes. There is a big link between obesity and diabetes, which worries me greatly. Without straying too far from the new clause, there are tremendous worries about the 1.4 million people in this country who are diabetic. Perhaps even more worryingly, there are more than 1 million people who have diabetes and who are not diagnosed. Volunteer activities are connected with that because sport plays a great role in the fight against obesity.
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Many communities such as mine, which is a widespread highlands seat, are very close-knit, and voluntary groups and volunteers are key to that. I want to give a few examples of my experience of growing up, in which voluntary work was extremely important. I know that many right hon. and hon. Members have had similar experiences of volunteering, which is what makes me enthusiastic about the new clause and the Bill.
My first experience as a volunteer was with Citizens Advice, an excellent organisation, and I spent many Friday evenings training in welfare rights so that I could volunteer, in addition to my job in social work, to help ordinary people—
Lawrie Quinn: On the fundamental issue of training, like my hon. Friend, I have been involved in volunteer activities. Training and realising a level of competency before undertaking "management" activity as a volunteer leader is crucial. How far is he concerned that this new clause might dilute the importance of making sure that volunteers have high-quality training, so that whatever activity is undertaken is done as safely as possible, recognising all the risks that might occur, in line with health and safety legislation and so on?
Mr. Stewart: My hon. Friend makes an important point. I have always been a great believer that although volunteers are not paid, they are professional—my right hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) made a similar point earlier. Of course, there is a duty of care on any organisation to make sure that volunteers are properly trained, and that health and safety issues are highlighted. What we cannot do, however, is to take away all risk in society. Some responsibility must be put on individuals, too. My hon. Friend makes a good point.
The other organisation in which I was involved as a volunteer for many years was the Samaritans, of which Members will be aware. Thinking back to my youth, I remember calls at 5 o'clock in the morning from the lonely, the suicidal and those who had given up hope. That experience encouraged me to become a social worker many years later. That organisation was another good example of excellent dedication and training, and of a good group of young people and adults who wanted to put something back into society to try to support other people who have great problems.
Like many right hon. Member and hon. Members, I have a variety of excellent voluntary organisations in my constituency. Time does not allow me to go though all of them, but I shall mention one: the Lochaber transport forum. Those who have knowledge of the highlands will know that Lochaber is a widespread area, with beautiful mountains and scenery, but that there are also great problems with isolation. That organisation allows volunteer drivers to go out and support the elderly, single parents, and those with mental health problems, to ensure that they can go to doctors, shops and so on. All that is done by volunteers and with minimal funds.
I suggest that three groups of people are helped by and benefit from volunteering. When taken together, they constitute the whole of society, which is my point and the point behind this Bill. First, the volunteers
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benefit from the experience: they have the satisfaction of knowing that they are investing in the lives of others and helping them. They get a sense of pride and achievement and gain new skills—we should not forget that. In some cases, that helps their future career development. In my case, although it was not in my mind at the time, voluntary work stimulated my interest in going into full-time social work later.
Volunteering is good not only for the volunteers but for organisations. They will be able to function correctly and efficiently, which means being able to deliver services to the public, which is very important. A larger organisation such as the British Heart Foundation relies on 10,000 volunteers across the UK for its valuable work in tackling heart disease.
Perhaps the widest group to benefit, however, are the communities themselves, and especially the most disadvantaged who are cared for and who have their needs met. Such communities include schools, hospitals and social services. Those are the types of communities in which we all want to live—communities of carers. That is why volunteering is so important, and it is imperative that the Government recognise the importance of the voluntary sector and promote volunteering. I welcome my right hon. Friend the Chancellor's Budget announcement last year on the setting up of a commission to draw up plans for a national youth volunteering strategy. That demonstrates the Government's commitment to consider the wider issues of volunteering, for young, old, rich and poor.
I was also encouraged to see that the number of volunteers, if we take the English example, has increased dramatically between 2001 and 2003. I therefore welcome the Bill. Of course, it is important that volunteers carry out activities without undue fear of blame or litigation. I agree that there are arguments about the "age of compensation" culture, although there are some opposing views. For example, Department for Work and Pensions statistics show that, between 2001 and 2003, disease claims fell by 26 per cent., employer liability claims fell by 16 per cent., and the number of solicitors undertaking personal injury work fell by 7 per cent. I am sure that some hon. Members may wish to comment on that.
I also realise that there have been some difficult test cases involving volunteering, to which some hon. Members have referred. For example, one of the crunch cases was Dowling v. the London borough of Barnet and Bowman's farm. Members may be aware that that multi-million pound damages case involved a pupil who suffered severe brain damage after contracting E. coli on a school trip to a farm. There are two sides to the compensation culture. On one side, the statistics show a reduction, but on the other, there have been some test cases in terms of liability, on which I am sure that Members will comment, affecting both schools and the volunteers involved.
11 am
I have a couple of questions that can perhaps be answered later. First, does the Bill justify a certain amount of compromise in terms of protecting volunteers from litigation and ensuring that attention is paid to health and safety at all times? Secondly, should
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we not bear it in mind that the real problem may not be the level of litigation but the fear of it among voluntary organisations?
It is important to keep volunteering in the public eye. I strongly support the construction of the Bill, and I also support the work of volunteers throughout the United Kingdom. I believe that the promotion of volunteers, with no compromise on duty of care and safety standards, is crucial. In general, I am in favour of the Bill.
Mr. Owen Paterson (North Shropshire) (Con): I heartily congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) on doing so well in the ballot, and on an admirable Bill. Remarkably, my hon. Friend has created what might be described as a common-sense coalition. He speaks for 22 million volunteers—I think that is what he said on Second Reading—who provide a wonderful service throughout the country, giving young people the opportunity to have experiences that they would not be able to have if those volunteers did not give their time.
The right hon. Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson) rightly said that children need to learn about risk. He was also right in saying that depriving children of play areas and opportunities to play is damaging in the long term. For one thing, they are likely to resort to more dangerous places; for another, they must learn how to cope with risk. As the right hon. Gentleman said, neither the Bill nor the new clause endorses recklessness. Both merely suggest that reasonable care and reasonable skill should be exercised.
Another member of the common-sense coalition, the hon. Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Burnett) mentioned the enormous increase in insurance. I have encountered that in my constituency. People have written to me about the problem of taking part in certain activities. I should perhaps declare an interest: I am president of the Ellesmere cadets. In my rural constituency, many people undertake activities that are potentially risky. Yesterday the headmaster of Oswestry school sent an e-mail to my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury saying:
"I fear that the amount of paperwork now needed to organise even the most basic sort of outing or trip (consent forms, medical forms, risk assessments and so on) would be likely to put off even the keenest of staff. Moreover, the fear of litigation should anything go wrong is likely to strangle any form of activity at birth (especially those which have any degree of risk). Thankfully, in my own school teachers are still prepared to make the effort, but at considerable expense to their time and energy."
That headmaster, Mr. Stockdale, sent me a note yesterday. He wrote:
"If you are able to give it"
"your support I would encourage you to do so. It would not directly affect the work of schools but if successful would bring a degree of commonsense back to an area in which it is sadly lacking."
I recently came across a ludicrous example of the disappearance of common sense. When I first entered the House—my constituency being 200 miles away—I was struck by the fact that nearly all school children visiting the Houses of Parliament came from London and the south. I make a point of trying to visit local
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schools frequently: I try to do so every Friday, although I do not always succeed. I always try to encourage headmasters and other teachers to bring groups down here. I have had some modest success, but I was astonished the other day when I invited a headmaster to bring his pupils down and he hesitated because of the difficulties involved in bringing them to meet their Member of Parliament—risk assessments, and all the other paperwork. That shows just how far the current excessively risk-averse culture has gone.
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