Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’


by Don Paskini    
12:50 pm - July 1st 2011

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Third Sector has the details:

“Public sector workers who have been made redundant should work unpaid as volunteer managers for charities, according to Francis Maude, the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Speaking at a session hosted by Christian charity Oasis in London on Wednesday evening, Maude said many charities had plenty of potential volunteers but were unable to involve all of them because there was a shortage of volunteer managers.

“There will be a diminishing public sector workforce,” he said. “I want to help train some of these people to be organisers and managers of volunteers. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing charities with too many volunteers they can’t use because there is no one to manage them.”

Maude did not say whether the government would fund any training, but said the suggested roles would be unpaid.”

Last August, Francis Maude was asked about what voluntary work he does. He replied, “that is a very unfair question”. It is not known if Mr Maude or any of his colleagues have offered to lead by example, quit their jobs and work as volunteer managers without pay.

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About the author
Don Paskini is deputy-editor of LC. He also blogs at donpaskini. He is on twitter as @donpaskini
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Reader comments


1. De_Civitas

It is probably worth noting that it is unclear whether these ‘volunteer managers’ or rather ‘managers of volunteers’ are actually volunteers themselves.

A quick look around the 3rd sector leads me to think that there is a good chance of them getting paid and if public sector workers do loose their jobs then the community/voluntary sector is often a logical place for them to go.

2. Don Paskini

“It is probably worth noting that it is unclear whether these ‘volunteer managers’ or rather ‘managers of volunteers’ are actually volunteers themselves.

A quick look around the 3rd sector leads me to think that there is a good chance of them getting paid and if public sector workers do loose their jobs then the community/voluntary sector is often a logical place for them to go.”

Maude is explicitly saying that he’s thinking of these as being unpaid roles. As you say, there are paid volunteer co-ordinator roles in the voluntary sector, but the number of these are falling as a result of the cuts

3. George McLean

And can someone just remind us what Mr Maude’s income was in his last year of opposition, broken down by each job and amount per hour worked?

4. Claire

You could of course take on voluntary work if you’re unemployed – in fact it’s good to do so as you can keep your hand in, possibly even learn new skills at the same time (as I did and it did end up in my getting paid employment after two years). However. I wasn’t signing on and didn’t need to be looking for work and was able to do the voluntary job within school hours.

If you’re registered unemployed and want to continue to receive benefits you have to be actually available for work and prove you are looking for work. I understand they are getting strict about this and people have to show job application forms and all sorts of evidence.

You could maybe fit in a part-time voluntary job around job-hunting (and who knows, maybe some voluntary sector employers might not mind volunteers looking for work on their time, using their stamps and photocopy machines?). But you absolutely could not commit yourself to anything or you’d risk being signed off with no money.

The only way someone could afford to do a voluntary job on a permanent or regular basis would be if they were retired or had some private income. A legacy or a well-off spouse.

Don’t have a clue, do they?

5. Ciaran

What a stupid cunt.

6. James from Durham

Reagrdless of whether or not, unpaid voluntary work is a good idea, the suggestion when coming from someone as well off as Maude who has probably never done anything for nothing smacks of the grossest hypocrisy.

7. Dan

Does he think all public sector workers are managers?

You have to available for work when claiming benefts, so you can do only a very limited amount of voluntary work.

Regarding comments about paid jobs, it is difficult to get a paid job in the voluntary sector.

8. Skooter

Once again displaying how out of touch these ministers are? Surely it wont be long before not accepting voluntary work will lead to being taken off benefits?

9. sandy

Just when you think this government can’t get any worse….it does.

10. Bob B

I don’t think contributors here quite understand the reality of the situation and what informs the government. Try this from the Daily Mail:

The coalition of millionaires: 23 of the 29 member of the new cabinet are worth more than £1m… and the Lib Dems are just as wealthy as the Tories
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/election/article-1280554/The-coalition-millionaires-23-29-member-new-cabinet-worth-1m–Lib-Dems-just-wealthy-Tories.html

11. Michael Mouse

He’s got to be out of his fucking mind.

12. bill major

Too many people just do not get it -the “big society” -is the usual Tory angle – replace the public sector with the patchy charitable sector – charity is unreliable; throughout the Victorian era the charities did “good works” -patronised the poor and the unfortunate, provided occupations for wives of the wealthy who could feel they were “doing good”, talked down to the poor and made them feel lowest of the low. Made the guardians of the charities feel good and the recipients feel bad.
They have always hated public services because they are efficient, cover all the population and do not label and stigmatise the poor. They associate the public sector with the biggest defeat for Tories and the biggest defeat for the Tories hero, churchill -the creation of the Welfare state [which ironically he himself was involved in the creation of]. Charitable services are spotty, rising and falling depending not on need but on people’s whims. They seriously hope that the many public sector workers, thrown out of a job will work for free, just as so many of Cameron’s wealthy pals and their wives do, assuaging their consciences in good works, patronising the poor and disabled. And keeping them in their place.

13. Pete Lee

Typical Tories – you work for nothing while I rake it in. I will pretend to be a virtuous person because I am morally superior so I am entitled to lecture lesserlings like you.

Shove it up your arse Maude.

14. Dean James

I think Bill Major has it bang on. These people have been the same for over 200 years! The only point I would add is that ‘the Tories’ hero, Churchill’ only started off the welfare state with the old age pension because the ruling elite were nervous about a Bolshevik-style revolution occurring here. The idea was to give as little as possible but enough to keep ‘em quiet. Now the USSR is a memory, they’re going hell for leather at dismantling the whole bloody lot!

15. JM

Will Cameron, Clegg, Maude etc work for free if they get sacked by their employers – UK voters – in the future?

16. JoshC

I can sum up my answer to Maude with two words. Three if I were particularly annoyed.

17. Flowerpower

@ 4

The only way someone could afford to do a voluntary job on a permanent or regular basis would be if they were retired or had some private income. A legacy or a well-off spouse.

Don’t have a clue, do they?

What about civil servants leaving with 6 figure redundo settlements and early pensions of £40kpa + ?

18. blackwillow1

Why not just make everyone receiving benefits do the voluntary work, pay a standard rate, say £130 pw. They could continue making a contribution, paying tax and NI, keeping busy rather than stagnating, and picking up new skills along the way. People who volunteer do so for various reasons, be they genuinely concerned citizens or just rich folk, trying to ease their middle class guilt by doing some ‘good works’. And that’s the point, those people volunteer, they choose to do it. Telling people that have just been thrown on the scrapheap they should work for nothing is the complete opposite of volunteering, it’s more akin to some cult commune, “You must do this, for your leader bids you, for the leader is all of you, so you do it not for your leader, but for each other”. It’s a line that’s been used by cult leaders, religious nutjobs and communist patriarchs over the centuries. Our glorious leader, “Call me Dave”, wants us all to give of ourselves to make him look like the architect of some great revival of community spirit, unfortunately for him, he lacks the charisma, personality, depth and basic understanding of people, the qualities required of any successful cult leader. The only way Dave will ever get the whole country behind him, is if he stands on a cliff edge and we shove him off. Altogether now, PUSH!

19. Claire

@17 “What about civil servants leaving with 6 figure redundo settlements and early pensions of £40kpa + ?”

What about them? Sure, they can volunteer too if they like!

20. JM

I lost my job because of illness and disability. In time, when I became able to cope with it, I took on some voluntary work, and did it for over a year. However, as a volunteer, I had no protection under the DDA when the paid manager decided he didn’t want me any more because of my disability. I now feel worse than I did before I started that volunteer job.

21. bill major

No matter how some of us charitably interpret these pronouncements by Maude and his pals, “they are only encouraging people with skills to take up voluntary work” etc -the real agenda [apart from the "rhymes with culture secretary" description from "ciaran"] is to break down the welfare state of 1945-2010 and take us back to an idealised version [as told to them on their mother's or nannie's knee]of the pre war Walmington on Sea world, so beloved of John Major et al. Cosy voluntary groups of retired Majors and widows organising the lower orders. Trouble is…it never was. Cosy, that is.When someone says take us back to what Thatcher called “Victorian values” they mean patchy patronising charitable organisations, charitable hospitals,lowly funded schools, a cowed, cheap, workforce and raging inequality [i really thought we had trashed all that after 1997, only to see Blair and Brown open the door for the next wave of "Hunts" to return in 2010]. On second thoughts, Ciaran’s one-liner is more appropriate.


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Jonathan Davis

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  2. Thomas Williams

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  3. Roxanne Ellis

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    RT @libcon: "Sacked public sector workers should work for free," says Tory minister http://bit.ly/jnblTs < Like ousted Tory MPs do?

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  18. Jill Hayward

    RT @libcon "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://t.co/7YPbg8C (HT @kayewiggins ) #bigsociety

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    RT @libcon "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://t.co/7YPbg8C (HT @kayewiggins ) #bigsociety

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    Does anyone check the sanity of MPs? RT @libcon "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  21. StarSparkle

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  22. Paul Trembath

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  23. Paul Trembath

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  24. David Ritter

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  25. David Ritter

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  26. Len Arthur

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  27. David Marsden

    "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  28. Edward Clarke

    "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  29. Anna Hirschfeld

    And what will pay the mortgage Maude? http://tinyurl.com/3t9mzgg

  30. Steve Haworth

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  31. Matthew Downie

    RT @thomaswilliams: "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://t.co/5SVp1h7

  32. sunny hundal

    Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister | Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  33. sunny hundal

    After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/taruR6L

  34. Daniel Gray

    After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/taruR6L

  35. hl

    Enslave us all why don't you? >RT @sunny_hundal: Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  36. Double.Karma

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  37. Ceehaitch

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  38. Lambeth NUT

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  39. steve conway

    Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/ENQBACF via @libcon maudes a cunt.

  40. Miljenko Williams

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  41. Jamie Milne

    Francis Maude says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/VnD70hm (via @FalseEcon)

  42. Northern TUC

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  43. Youth Fight for Jobs

    RT @libcon: Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister http://t.co/l5u4a3P

  44. Von Whelan

    Enslave us all why don't you? >RT @sunny_hundal: Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  45. Hali

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  46. Bristol24-7

    RT @stevibaldi: Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister http://t.co/ENQBACF

  47. Jack

    After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/taruR6L

  48. Max

    RT @stevibaldi: Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister | Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/mpOtKw via @libcon

  49. volunteering

    More comment on Francis Maude's suggestion that redundant public sector workers should work for free! http://bit.ly/ljBIjf

  50. Al Smith

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  51. Jon

    After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/taruR6L

  52. Amanda Kendal

    Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Maude http://t.co/wJoUoYI via @libcon Have I been in a coma? Is it 1 April again?

  53. Leon Paternoster

    Always thought this was the Tory plan. Basically, the unemployed will end up working for free. Comment #5 sums Maude up: http://is.gd/bEgJVx

  54. Soho Politico

    Wow. RT @sunny_hundal: After yesterday's disaster on Today, Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/hUc5bNh

  55. Soho Politico

    Wow. RT @sunny_hundal: After yesterday's disaster on Today, Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/hUc5bNh

  56. bankofcat

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  57. matthew jordan

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  58. lesa

    RT @sunny_hundal Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister | Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  59. Matt Jeffs

    "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  60. Hannah Gould

    After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/taruR6L

  61. Tom Serpell

    After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/taruR6L

  62. Broken OfBritain

    “Sacked public sector workers should work for free”, says Tory minister | Liberal Conspiracy http://fb.me/10zyN6MHn

  63. Margo Milne

    RT @libcon: Maude: 'sacked officials should work for free' http://t.co/79FGYA2 Wow. What a plank.

  64. Gareth Millward

    http://ow.ly/5uQlA Hold on, Maude. Bureaucrats create unnecessary waste, but what the 3rd sector really needs is more bureaucrats?

  65. Spir.Sotiropoulou

    Wow. RT @sunny_hundal: After yesterday's disaster on Today, Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/hUc5bNh

  66. Riven

    RT @libcon: Maude: 'sacked officials should work for free' http://t.co/79FGYA2 Wow. What a plank.

  67. David Griffiths

    "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  68. Huw Jordan

    My tweetalogue of Francis Maude idiocy. Last July: http://t.co/fcaGVBi Wednesday: http://t.co/08AOfyO Yesterday: http://t.co/JqpvmVJ Idiot.

  69. steve turner

    Wow. RT @sunny_hundal: After yesterday's disaster on Today, Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/hUc5bNh

  70. Juan Voet

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  71. Paul Hood

    RT @sunny_hundal After yesterday's disaster on Today, Francis Maude now says sacked public workers should work for free http://t.co/gGexELB

  72. James Maddison

    Maude:‘sacked officials should work for free’ Made a total arse of himself yesterday, Soon to follow his own advice ? http://t.co/oRSi09U

  73. anne maclachlan

    RT @sunny_hundal Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister | Liberal Conspiracy http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  74. Steve Wilkinson

    RT @libcon: Maude: 'sacked officials should work for free' http://t.co/x0DkCuy

  75. Colin Talbot

    RT @libcon "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://t.co/7YPbg8C (HT @kayewiggins ) #bigsociety

  76. paulwalteruk

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/NDQHHNn via @libcon

  77. senan

    RT @libcon: Sacked public sector workers should work for free, says Tory minister http://t.co/l5u4a3P

  78. Claire Rose

    #ToryFail RT @libcon: "Sacked public sector workers should work for free", says Tory minister http://bit.ly/jnblTs

  79. Andy Hicks

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  80. Jon Purdom/Paco Saez

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  81. NobodyLikesATory

    “Sacked public sector workers should work for free”, says Tory minister http://fb.me/JbKjjXsO

  82. Paul Clift

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/rcLjWts via @libcon

  83. loozeta

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/pUE4cJk via @libcon

  84. Bill Scales

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/GDkr7ed via @libcon

  85. Andy Smart

    Excellent – Francis Maude cements his position as utter wally http://t.co/iA2uKx0

  86. Jamie Redhead

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/FN22MOA via @libcon not surprising!

  87. Norman Fraser

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/eFrG09U via @libcon

  88. janet marland

    Just as you think they cannot be more patronising..read this and groan: http://t.co/3wx0uL0 via @libcon

  89. Lucy Lepchani

    “Sacked public sector workers should work for free”, says Tory minister http://fb.me/JbKjjXsO

  90. Sue Parry

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/VYLC3ex via @libcon Workhouses to be announced shortly

  91. MrNeb

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/V9XYcEI via

  92. Paul Gleeson

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy: http://t.co/acl6l4X via @addthis

  93. Shawndra

    You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  94. CAROLE JONES

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/yP7slFi via @libcon – Serfdom and slavery, here we come.

  95. Simon HB

    You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  96. Lise

    RT @norock: RT @DillPickle: You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for… http://t.co/ahykPIb

  97. Jon Bounds

    You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  98. pussellrarker

    Lead by example please, Francis, then we'll talk RT @DillPickle: You what??? –> http://bit.ly/iHInW0 (via @bounder)

  99. FawnDoo

    RT @norock: RT @DillPickle: You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for… http://t.co/ahykPIb

  100. Badger5000

    You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  101. Rob Owens

    OMFG! RT @dillpickle: You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  102. lisa marshall

    “@DillPickle: You what?–> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/CoGvkrw” > idiot alert

  103. Chris Williams

    You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  104. A Rod

    You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  105. Francis Maude, what you chattin’ with your ““Public sector workers who have been made redundant should work unpaid as volunteer managers for charities”? #whyshouldthey #bigsociety | Dawn Willis sharing the News & Views of the Mentall

    [...] http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/07/01/sacked-public-sector-workers-should-work-for-free-says-tory-… [...]

  106. Jez Higgins

    You what??? –> Francis Maude says Public Sector workers made redundant 'should work for free’ http://t.co/ahykPIb

  107. Carolyn Anderson

    Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/u4wWPDj
    I wonder what volunteering he does?

  108. Dr Robert Bobson

    Fuck off Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/X5WuPBR via @libcon

  109. DianeLaw

    F*****g Numpty, who does he think he is? Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/hFB8Sng via @libcon

  110. Karl

    Francis Maude makes me angry – http://t.co/ObhJMud

  111. Phil McDuff

    Link: Maude: ‘sacked officials should work for free’ http://j.mp/qvW3CP





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