To ask the Minister for Social Development what actions his Department’s Voluntary and Community Unit is taking to ensure that the Volunteering Strategy and its agreed objectives are being adopted by each Executive Department.

Northern Ireland’s first ever Volunteering Strategy, endorsed by the NI Executive in June 2011, was welcomed by my Ministerial colleagues and received strong support. The Volunteering Strategy is accompanied by an Action Plan that sets out a programme of work that is currently underway to achieve the Strategy objectives. A Volunteering Strategy Steering Group has been established with representation from volunteering stakeholders, both from government and non government, to monitor and report on the implementation of the Strategy.

A mid-term evaluation of the Volunteering Strategy is planned to take place in this financial year. The outcome of this evaluation will be key to any changes to delivery post 2015 and I will be updating the NI Executive as appropriate, to ensure its continued commitment and the creation of a strong policy context which will provide the conditions to enable volunteering to flourish and ensure its impact on life in Northern Ireland is maximised.