Gordon Brown is still tinkering with small schemes that make an incremental difference. The new youth volunteering scheme is similar to previous initiatives and there is a long way to go before the £50m target in new private money is achieved.
Eight years on and Gordon Brown’s approach continues to be one of cautious tinkering with small schemes that make an incremental difference. This time, plans for what amounts to a tax on windfall gains in development land values (the planning gain supplement, first proposed in Lord Roger’s 1999 Urban Taskforce report) took a step closer to reality with publication of a detailed consultation paper.
This is one to watch, as it takes companies even more into funding public infrastructure from private schemes. Big developers like supermarkets and housebuilders will need to become more ‘joined up’ in their thinking about local impact through voluntary contributions and mainstream or mandatory amounts. Long time readers of Briefing will experience a sense of déjà vu over the latest youth volunteering scheme. One of New Labour’s big ideas a decade ago while still in opposition – Millennium Volunteers – is still around, not to mention TimeBank, Experience Corps and other efforts to increase volunteering. Real long-time readers will remember similar efforts by the Thatcher and Major governments to boost voluntary endeavour too.
Time will tell whether this will succeed in reaching parts others haven’t. The initial corporate funders are presumably confident and happy anyway to have their own schemes handsomely matched by government. But it’s a long way to go before the £50m target in new private money is achieved. We’ll keep you posted.
Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 85 – January, 2006