David Cameron to announce paid volunteer scheme

8:53 AM

Around 15 million people will get the chance to take three days’ paid leave a year to volunteer, under plans unveiled by David Cameron.

<> on October 2, 2013 in Manchester, England.

Revisiting the Big Society theme prominent in the 2010 election, the prime minister said the move would “strengthen communities”.

It will apply to employees of firms with at least 250 staff – an estimated 10 million in the private sector and five million in the public sector.

However companies will not be forced to organise paid time off for employees, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said on Friday.

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 20: Communities Secretary Eric Pickles leaves Downing Street on August 20, 2014 in London, England. British Prime Minster David Cameron has cut short his holiday in Cornwall to hold a meeting in Downing Street on the situation in Iraq and Syria. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Mr Pickles indicated that workers who want to take paid leave to volunteer will have to be flexible with the time off promised by the prime minister if it causes problems to their company.

But Labour raised concerns about the cost.

Shadow minister Lisa Nandy said: “Giving every public servant three extra days off could cost millions of pounds but there’s no sense of how it will be paid for. If just half of public sector workers took this up it would be the time equivalent of around 2,000 nurses, 800 police and almost 3,000 teachers.”