§ 75. Mr. Yeoasked the Minister for the Civil Service when staff in his Department will be able to make donations to charities by deduction from salary under the payroll giving scheme.
§ Mr. LuceArrangements have been made with the Charities Aid Foundation by the Treasury to allow civil servants paid through the Chessington computer centre, which includes my Department, to make tax-free donations to charities of their choice. The necessary application forms for this will be available from the foundation as soon as possible. The Government have now made the payroll giving scheme available to nearly 300,000 civil servants. I hope that other employers will follow this lead.
§ Mr. YeoMay I congratulate my right hon. Friend on implementing these arrangements for civil servants? Will he monitor the response that this scheme receives from the Civil Service so that in a year or so we may know how large the donations have been? Secondly, is it possible for hon. Members and the staff of this place to take advantage of the scheme?
§ Mr. LuceMy hon. Friend's last question, which is an important one, is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House. I have no doubt that my right hon. Friend heard what he had to say. I can assure my hon. Friend that monitoring will take place. The important thing is that employees in Government services should have a chance to participate. If each one of them contributed the full amount, £35 million could be raised for charity. We now want to see as many other employers as possible following this lead.