It now has over 2,000 signatures, which makes it the 50th most popular petition out of 6,340 and places it on the front page of the website.
Harriett Baldwin, Conservative Parliamentary candidate for West Worcestershire, who set up the e-petition at the request of Community Action, Malvern and District, said, "I am still waiting for a reply to my letter to Alistair Darling, which I sent in May. However, Jen Boyer, Chair of Community Action was invited to the Cabinet Away Day in Birmingham recently and raised this with him there. Although he was non-committal, Mrs. Boyer's subsequent conversation with Communities Minister Hazel Blears MP was more encouraging. She claimed she would raise the matter in Cabinet. I hope that with Parliament returning next week, the momentum behind this campaign may finally get a reaction from government."
Currently, HMRC allows charities to reimburse volunteer drivers for their fuel at a maximum rate of 40p per mile. With petrol and diesel prices so high, this rate no longer is adequate to cover the volunteers' fuel costs. Charities cannot reimburse volunteers in any other way without creating taxable income. Therefore the threshold should rise to 50p per mile.