Time off for public duties

The Government is consulting on arrangements to take time off work for public duties. This reviews how well existing arrangements are working. It also looks at the possibility of changes to who is eligible following the principle that:

• special constables should be entitled to time off under these provisions
• people carrying out eligible public duties with a clear local focus should gain the right to reasonable time off
• people carrying out public duties for national public sector organisations should no longer be entitled to time off work as those roles do not align with the original, locally focused intent of the legislation

You can find the consultation here. The consultation closes on 4 September 2026.