Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he is having with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on opportunities for businesses to allow employees to volunteer with civil society organsiations.

Employer-supported volunteering can bring considerable benefits to individual wellbeing as well as the broader workforce, help to build stronger communities and enable charities and community groups to do more through employer-supported contributions.

Government wants to see employers with strong corporate responsibility programmes and to encourage businesses, the public sector and charities to consider the role employer-supported volunteering can play as part of their impact on society.

Employees already have the right to reasonable time off work to carry out specified public duties such as those of a magistrate, as established in Section 50 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. However, in the absence of a statutory requirement to provide time off for all voluntary duties, this is a matter for individual employers.

Employer-supported volunteering programmes have made an important contribution to our community response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Business Response Network established by Business in the Community has coordinated the need for volunteers with local businesses, and their efforts have benefitted over 1 million people across the country to date.