Last week the Home Office responded to the consultation on Earned Settlement – which included a small policy win for the VCSE sector. 

 

Concerns were raised by the VCSE sector about the proposal to link volunteering to settlement. Initially to some, it may have sounded like a positive way to encourage more community action, however we highlighted some big concerns back in February when the consultation was open.  

 

In short, our views are that:  

• Asylum seekers are already permitted to volunteer freely – there is no ‘barrier’ here that this proposal aimed to address.  

• Volunteering should be a choice – an altruistic act, strongly aligned to autonomy and balanced reciprocity. 

• Volunteering should never become a mandatory requirement tied to immigration status. 

• Volunteering should not be politicised. 

• VCSE organisations, and volunteers, are the experts in how to sustain an inclusive and impactful voluntary sector. 

• And, as NCVO highlighted, the proposals risked creating new, unfunded responsibilities for charities. 

 

Whilst the consultation process did not give VCSE sector organisations the opportunity to fully highlight their nuanced concerns, the fact that the government has both listened to third sector feedback and scrapped something that is both problematic and unworkable is positive. 

 

We are aware that the overall changes to immigration policy are more complicated and not necessarily a step forward, but it is still important to recognise where VCSE influence has led to positive change. 

 

We also want to thank everyone who fed into this consultation, either directly or via our VCSE Development Advisor Sarah Hickie. 

 

You can also find the resource that we co-produced with Bristol City Council, Bristol City of Sanctuary and Refugee Welcome Homes here: Supporting Refugees and Asylum Seekers to Volunteer – which some brilliant Refugee and Asylum Seeker organisations fed into.  

 

The co-produced resource was our positive action on this topic, as we very much do want to support Asylum Seekers and Refugees to volunteer, but in a person-centred way that is supportive, appropriate for both them and the organisation they are interested in volunteering with and based on relationships.  

 

You can also read more about the Home Office response here: Home Office scraps migrant volunteering plans after sector pushback 

As well as the full response to the consultation here: Earned Settlement: Public Consultation Analysis