'Big Society' Volunteering & Job Substitution

As austerity cuts kick in, an article in this week's Economist magazine highlights a rise in the number of volunteers running public services, notably in libraries where 'the number of volunteer librarians has increased by over 70% in five years, to 21,642 in 2011'.
http://www.economist.com/node/
21559939?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/unpaid_armies

The use of volunteers to replace paid staff has become so prevalent it could 'undermine the public perception of volunteering' according to Volunteering England in a recent publication, ‘A Guide to Avoiding Job Substitution’ http://www.volunteering.org.uk/images/stories/Volunteering-England/Documents/Campaigns-and-policy/Guide_to_avoiding_job_substitution_final.pdf

Volunteering England calls on third sector charities and other organisations to maintain their responsibilities to employees in the face of cuts to services.