PM’s plan for paid leave to volunteer ‘on back burner’

DAVID Cameron has avoided a business backlash by putting off plans to force big firms to give staff time off for voluntary work.

The Prime Minister sought to revive his Big Society idea during the General Election campaign with proposals to allow 15million workers to take three paid days a year to volunteer.

Mr Cameron said the move would help create a ‘better, more motivated workforce – and it’s good for our society, too’.

But after business leaders lined up to criticise it as a heavyhanded move that could cost billions, it is no longer being treated as a priority.

The policy was not included in the Queen’s Speech last month and there has been no announcement on when the Government will begin a consultation.

However, Downing Street last night denied the idea had been quietly shelved and said it still planned to introduce it.

A source said: ‘Not everything in the manifesto was in the Queen’s Speech, but it is a fiveyear Parliament.’

During the election campaign, Mr Cameron said he wanted everyone in the public sector and all those in private firms with more than 250 staff to have the opportunity to take paid leave for volunteering.

He said: ‘This is the clearest demonstration of the Big Society in action and I’m proud it is a Conservative government that will deliver it.’

The Prime Minister said the extra millions of volunteering hours created by the scheme would ‘strengthen communities and the bonds between us’.

But business leaders claimed it would effectively extend guaranteed paid leave from 28 days a year to 31, creating ‘big issues’ for many employers.

Simon Walker, director-general at the Institute of Directors, said the policy did ‘not appear to have been thought through at all’, adding: ‘Passing a law to compel firms to pay their staff to volunteer for charity is hardly in keeping with the spirit of philanthropy. The essence of volunteering is that it is voluntary.’

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: ‘Proposals will be published in due course.’

Comment – Page 14

‘Not thought through at all’