Steve Holliday, former chief executive of National Grid plc, has completed hisindependent review of Full-Time Social Action – currently defined as 16 hours a week or more, for 6 months or more. This considered what the voluntary sector, industry and, if needed, Government can do to support full-time volunteering. The Alliance responded highlighting several barriers.
The review found that young people are often facing multiple barriers to participate in FTSA programmes, while providers are struggling to deliver them. The common difficulties reported by providers are; the funding required to provide young people with the right training and support to thrive in social action programmes, and frustrations navigating the current legal framework.
The review recommends, among other things, that as FTSA programmes are still in their infancy in the UK, the evidence does not yet demonstrate a strong argument to justify expansion. More research and wider evidence are needed on their impact. This can be derived from evaluating the performance of current practice and innovation across the UK. Future research should be commissioned and managed by DCMS.