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Baroness Neuberger publishes review of volunteering in the civil service

7 July 2009

Baroness Neuberger, the Prime Minister’s volunteering champion has published a review of employer-supported volunteering in the civil service. She has made a number of recommendations, including that all departments should allow their staff up to five days a year to volunteer.

Baroness Neuberger said:

“Anecdotally, we know that many civil servants volunteer. Much of this is done in their own time. My research has shown that nearly all Departments have some form of volunteering policy, including paid time off to volunteer.  However, few departments have reliable data on how many of their employees make use of this allowance formally.

"The report explores the difference between private sector and public sector attitudes to volunteering, it finds that outside the civil service, in 2007, 36% of employees had an employer-supported volunteering scheme available to them. Approximately 70% of FTSE 100 companies have some kind of employer supported volunteering programme."

Baroness Neuberger continues,

“I believe passionately in the power of volunteering. I would like to see all civil servants taking part in volunteering activities, so that they understand it and lead by example. However, I also recognise that not all people share this passion, and may be thinking, quite reasonably, ‘what is the business case for encouraging employee volunteering?’”

In the report Baroness Neuberger sets out the business case under three main headings:

1. Outreach and community engagement enables government to be more responsive
2. Volunteering is in itself a way of enabling practical learning and development
3. It boosts staff morale and builds teams

This marks the last report on volunteering by Baroness Neuberger in her role as the Government’s Champion for Volunteering. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has welcomed today’s report;

“I am delighted that Baroness Neuberger chose to focus her final report on employer-supported volunteering within the civil service. As this report highlights, employee volunteering in government can help improve the way government works by enabling civil servants to engage with and understand the needs of the public better and improve the services they offer as a result.

“I am very pleased to hear of so many positive and creative examples of volunteering already going on across government and I hope that this report will help to inspire us all to go further in bringing volunteering into the heart of government.”

Other recommendations from the report include:

• The Cabinet Office Volunteering group should continue to be provided with adequate resources
• Central guidance should continue to be produced on how to write a volunteering policy, how to set up bespoke schemes/brokerage, and which outside organisations could be approached
• An internal promotion campaign across government should be implemented to demonstrate the benefits of volunteering
• All departments should have some sort of employer supported volunteering scheme in place by 2011
• All civil servants should be given up to 5 days off per year to volunteer
• Volunteering should be encouraged as part of employees’ personal development plans
• Civil service employee volunteering schemes should be promoted by Communications departments

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Tessa Jowell also welcomed the report and set out her commitment to encourage volunteering;

“Like Baroness Neuberger I am also passionate about volunteering and the difference it can make to society as well as the positive impact on the individual. I am pleased to see that volunteering is increasing, particularly in the civil service. We shall review all the recommendations in today’s report.”

• Download the report [PDF]