Only five of the 129 members of Scottish Parliament use payroll giving to donate to charity, well below the average uptake of give as you earn at other employers.

The number of payroll giving MSPs increased in 2012 to five from just three in 2011, according to an FOI released by the Scottish Parliament to Howard Lake. The Scots, however, are more generous than their counterparts in the UK Parliament. The total proportion of MSPs giving to charity via the tax efficient method of payroll giving is 3.9 per cent, which is significantly higher than in Westminster, where fewer than 2 per cent of MPs use the mechanism.

Both these figures lag significantly behind the national average. According to the Geared for Giving campaign, at workplaces where payroll giving is offered the average take up of the scheme is 5.5 per cent.

The Westminster government launched a review into the low take-up of payroll giving last year, and opened up its recommendations to sector consultation in January. The review suggested a minor overhaul of the mechanism, bringing private companies into the process and standardising sign-up forms.

But the fact that the growth of payroll giving among MPs and MSPs has been so incremental tallies with the trend in the broader working population, despite efforts by the Geared for Giving campaign to significantly boost this figure.

In the year ending March 2012, 735,000 people were using workplace giving schemes – a significant rise from five years previous when 644,564 used the scheme but still significantly below the peak of 754,000 in the year ending March 2009. This is despite the Geared for Giving campaign launching in 2008 with the express purpose of increasing the number of workplaces offering geared for giving, and the number of workers using it.

'Hugely disappointing' but charities must use the present scheme

Peter O’Hara, director of Workplace Giving which leads the Geared for Giving campaign, said that the take up of payroll giving among MSPs is “hugely disappointing” and reiterated calls for a “complete overhaul” of the system.

But O’Hara stressed the need to work within the system that exists, and to promote payroll giving as an untapped resource – even with a less than ideal structure.

“We can’t afford to continue to sit on our hands and wait; this year will prove to be hugely challenging for charities… which is why the Geared for Giving campaign has been working hard to get companies on board,” he said.

“We believe our efforts have made a substantial difference and without our campaign the uptake would be much lower. Since 2008, we have helped give a further 2.2m employees the opportunity to give and raised over £3.6m for their chosen charities.”

The consultation period for the government’s review into payroll giving doesn’t close until next month, but O’Hara said charities need to work with the system regardless.

“We can all continue to campaign for changes to the scheme but, for today, we must all work towards opening the doors that will allow us access to employees and create the environment in which people will want to give.”

 

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