UPDATE: 11th August 2022
As you may be aware, NAVCA has signed up to support the campaign led by the Community Transport Association [CTA] to ask Treasury to review the approved mileage rate [AMAP] in relation to reimbursement of volunteer expenses, community transport schemes etc. The CTA have a meeting next week with a senior official in Treasury and are looking for additional information / data to add to their case.
If you have any data demonstrating the scale of the issue that your organisation is encountering, or any specific examples, please could you forward them to Jill Hopkins (jill.hopkinson@navca.org.uk) by close of play on Monday 15 August.
Examples could include withdrawal of services, increased costs to users, fewer numbers willing to volunteer in driving roles etc. CTA are particularly keen to help understand to what extent problems are caused by volunteers finding that 45pm is not enough, or that volunteers do not receive the maximum currently as it can’t be funded.
NAVCA* are currently circulating a petition launched by one of their members, the Good Neighbours Network, requesting that the HMRC mileage allowance be increased from 45p/mile to 60p/mile, amid the current cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing fuel prices.
The rate of 45p/mile has been fixed since 2011, and NAVCA, The Good Neighbours Network, and other charitable organisations have already reported a decline in the number of volunteer drivers because of this, and there are concerns that it will continue to impact the availability of volunteers, and undermine incentives to become a volunteer.
You can find the petition here - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/600966
The Community Transport Association (CTA) is also leading a campaign, in a coalition of 11 charities (including NAVCA*), to call on the Chancellor to tackle rising fuel costs and the detrimental impact it's having on the voluntary sector. You can read more here.
*NAVCA is the national membership body for local support and development organisations in England. It stands for National Association for Voluntary and Community Action and 3SG are members along with hundreds of other infrastructure organisations across the country.
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