Day: June 16, 2022

Scotland’s Volunteering Action Plan launched at The Gathering

Increasing opportunities across Scotland’s communities

People, places and communities are at the heart of a new Volunteering Action Plan, launched in Glasgow yesterday at The Gathering, SCVO’s celebration of Scotland’s voluntary sector.

The plan aims to create an environment where everyone can volunteer, more often, and throughout their lives, with a specific focus on tackling inequality within volunteering, so that those who would traditionally experience barriers to volunteering can benefit and contribute.

Led by Volunteer Scotland and the Scottish Government, the plan was developed with over 100 participants, who have brought integral themes to the action plan including building knowledge and developing skills, supporting local communities and promoting the value of volunteers.

It will be boosted by £100,000 investment from the Scottish Government in the Make Your Mark Heritage volunteering campaign, which will help develop training and guidance to support inclusive volunteering.

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: “The value of volunteering has hit a high over the last two years, when nearly three million people stepped up during the pandemic to help in our communities. Volunteers continue to be critical to Scotland’s Covid recovery and renewal.

“Across Scotland, volunteers make absolutely vital contributions every day to their families, communities and society as a whole. They do it because they care and want to help and support others. Throughout Scotland, people are volunteering and contributing on the issues that matter to them.

“Scotland’s Volunteering Action Plan will increase awareness of the vital role of volunteers in the delivery of services across Scotland from health and social care, children and families and sport. Volunteering is powerful and it matters.” 

Alan Stevenson, CEO of Volunteer Scotland, said: “Volunteering is the heartbeat of our communities. ‘Everyday’ volunteering touches all of our lives, in our local places and spaces. Volunteering is good for you; with proven health and wellbeing benefits, greater social connections, providing skills, confidence, experience, and enjoyment!

“Volunteering should be available to anyone from any background, throughout their lives. This Action Plan will maximise the impact of volunteering and with co-production at its core, it’ll create an environment and a community of practice in which volunteering is truly ‘for all’. It’ll establish accountability for ensuring that the needs of volunteers are at the heart of future decision-making.”

Craig, who is registered disabled, volunteers with Easthall Residents’ Association in Glasgow, organising discos every Friday. He said: “I love the feeling of being part of a team I am made to feel so welcome and I have a purpose. It gives me such a lift when I’m volunteering and helping others. I feel ten feet tall.”

Charley and Anna were matched through the befriending project Mearns Kirk Helping Hands in March 2021. Charley said: “Without the volunteering programme many older people would suffer from much greater loneliness and be far less stimulated.

“Anna allows me to learn from her every time we chat, has a passion for life and is great company. I think she really looks forward to our calls and meetings as she is such an enthusiastic person.”

Volunteering Action Plan

Audit Scotland: Clarity on Covid spending remains vital

The Scottish Government moved at pace with its partners to respond financially to the pandemic – but public sector leaders need to be clearer about how one-off Covid-19 funding is being spent and what impact it has had, according to a new report by public spending watchdog Audit Scotland.

The Scottish Government worked with councils, NHS boards and other public sector bodies to direct billions of Covid-19 funding in difficult circumstances. However, they were not prepared for the scale or speed of the response required and lessons need to be learned.

Spending decisions were recorded differently across government departments, and it was not always clear how data was used to inform funding allocations. Decisions were not centrally collated, making it hard to see how some financial decisions were reached. So far, there has also been limited evaluation of the difference the financial response to the pandemic has made to people’s lives.

The Scottish Government managed its budget effectively over the last two years, but some Covid-19 funding remains unspent. At the end of 2020/21 over £2 billion was added to reserves by the Scottish Government, councils and integration authorities – but it is not possible to say how much of that is from Covid-19 funding.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government and public bodies worked well together to distribute money during the pandemic, but lessons should be learned to improve planning for any future large-scale disruptions.

“It is vital for transparency and financial planning that the Scottish Government and other public bodies are clear about how one-off Covid-19 funding is being spent, including money in reserves.

“More work is also needed by the Scottish Government to collect the data that will allow it to understand the difference its interventions have made and plan the country’s recovery from Covid.”

William Moyes, Chair of the Accounts Commission, said: “Councils played an important role in the financial response to Covid-19 because of their local knowledge and the systems they had in place to distribute money.

“Pandemic spending largely protected councils and other public bodies over the last two years. But the financial challenges they were facing pre-Covid remain, and council budgets are particularly under pressure.

“Many services relied on one-off Covid-19 funding to remain sustainable, and it’s important that there is clarity about how they will be paid for in the future.”

Evaluating the financial response to the Covid-19 pandemic – which saw the Scottish Government allocate £15.5 billion between 2020-2022 –  the report highlights the significant challenges faced across the country.  

The report acknowledges that despite these extraordinary difficulties:

  • existing Scottish Government systems were utilised efficiently to help deliver financial support as quickly as possible, whilst developing new, streamlined processes that minimised the risk of fraud
  • the Scottish Government maintained a balanced budget
  • short notice UK Government funding was directed quickly by the Scottish Government to tackle the wide ranging impacts of the pandemic
  • over £5 billion was allocated for health and social care to support vital services and public health infrastructure for testing and vaccinations programmes
  • more than £4.7 billion was allocated to businesses in lifeline support
  • local authorities were allocated £1.8 billion to fund vital general and targeted services, including £200 million to cover councils’ lost income

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “The COVID-19 pandemic created challenges on a scale our economy and people have never faced in living memory. At every stage, the Scottish Government worked to safeguard lives, businesses, jobs and livelihoods, acting as quickly and efficiently as possible to support people and businesses.

“Despite the impacts of the pandemic, many of which are still being acutely felt, we worked collaboratively with all sectors of the economy to identify those most in need and then with local authorities and partners to utilise existing systems to ensure financial support was delivered swiftly and effectively.

“We also set up a number of new support streams, to make sure businesses were being paid as quickly as possible. My thanks go to all of our partners who worked with us to deliver support at pace.

“It is important to remember the severity of the pandemic and that decisions were taken at pace as we considered how best to allocate funding to support business and people through the necessary public health restrictions.

“We will now carefully consider the Audit Scotland report and engage with relevant sectors to ensure that future decision making is as informed as possible and best supports the people of Scotland.”

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