The Politics of Responsible Business 2014, a new survey by Business in the Community and Lloyds Banking Group, finds that three out of five MPs consider responsible business a key electoral issue, but that their awareness of businesses' community activities is low.

The report is based on a study of 151 MPs' views about the role of business in their constituencies.

It found that MPs wanted to see local businesses tackling a broad range of issues, including regenerating deprived areas, encouraging enterprise and raising educational standards.

However, it also highlighted a gap between MPs' expectations of business and their awareness of the impact it is having in their constituencies. When asked about a range of community activities that businesses are increasingly engaged with, fewer than one in six MPs said that they were aware "to a great extent" of those activities being carried out by business in their constituencies.

This suggests, say the report's authors, that businesses may not be adequately engaging or informing their local MPs of their activities.

In response, Business in the Community is calling on MPs to work more effectively in partnership with business in their local areas, and take the following practical steps in their constituencies to increase positive business action in communities that need support.

  •   Encourage businesses and organisations to support their local community by seconding a local broker to communities or by offering business time/advice to community organisations

  •   Encourage businesses to partner with schools

  •   Encourage businesses to offer work opportunities through not only apprenticeships, but also traineeships and work experience

  •   Encourage businesses to review their recruitment practices to ensure they don’t have any inadvertent barriers in place

  •   Encourage larger businesses to open their supply chains to smaller businesses

  •   Encourage businesses to think about and reduce their impact on the environment

  •   Celebrate and reward good work in their constituencies by supporting platforms to profile great local businesses

  •   Get involved and support local businesses to volunteer in their communities.