Forum Brief: Charities Bill

John Knight, head of policy and campaigns, Leonard Cheshire, said: "Leonard Cheshire welcomes the publication of the Charities Bill, seeing it as a long overdue opportunity to tidy up centuries old legislation.

"It will also give charities a chance to clearly demonstrate the public benefit they bring."

Forum Response: Charities Aid Foundation

Simon Hebditch, executive director (external affairs) at CAF, said: "CAF is glad that the draft Charities' Bill has been published.

"It gives us the opportunity to modernise charity law and regulation to ensure that charities are able to play a full role in our society. It is very welcome that charitable purposes would be updated to include the advancement of human rights amongst other changes.

"We believe that it is essential to make sure that charities are governed by effective law and are able to show the public how they use their funds to meet their purposes. In a world where charities are often expected to provide front-line services on behalf of government, it is  even more important that donors are confident that charities are run well and have an impact.

"It is quite right that any charity worth its salt must be able to show that its activities are for the public benefit and we hope that the scrutiny process now being undertaken will ensure that a dynamic and responsible sector will be supported by equally robust law and regulation.

"CAF will be submitting its views to the joint parliamentary committee over the next few weeks."

Forum Response: Voice UK

Matt Townsend, public affairs officer for the Disabilities Trust said: "The publication  of the draft Charities Bill is very welcome. After 400 years or so without legislation, it is perhaps time the law regarding charities was updated! For our part the Trust is generally in support of the proposals within the Bill. We are pleased the government has avoided the temptation to lay down a statutory definition of charity. This is unnecessary and would prove an overly prescriptive approach particularly as one of the greatest strengths of the sector is its immense variety and diversity of aims. The list of charitable objectives, is though, a helpful clarification of the current situation and will hopefully give the public even further confidence in the validity of charity organisations and their work. Finally, while some would have been keen for the government to allow trading companies to enjoy the full tax benefits of being part of a charitable organisation, the Trust itself accepts that this would give our sector an unfair advantage over private sector companies and undermine competition."

Forum Response: Association for Charities

A spokesman for the Association of Charities said: "The Association for Charities welcomes the publication yesterday of the draft Charities Bill.  This draft Bill includes a number of proposals for changes in charity law and regulation, and the accountability of the Charity Commission, as regulator, which the Association was formed – and has campaigned – to secure.

"In welcoming the draft Bill, the Association will be providing evidence to the Joint Parliamentary Committee, designed to address three of the eight issues the Committee has identified as important to its pre-legislative scrutiny inquiry.  These are: the right balance between flexibility and accountability (to avoid the danger of over-regulation); the impact of the Bill on improving public confidence in charities (to encourage more giving and volunteering); and the extent to which specific proposals in the Bill are adequate, workable and beneficial.

"In our written submission to the Committee we shall include a report prepared for them.  This will contain specific proposals, either to amend provisions in the draft Bill, or to include additional ones.  It outlines some fourteen of more than forty case studies in the Association’s files involving the regulatory intervention of the Charity Commission.  The case study authors each have in-depth knowledge of these interventions and the case studies are drawn from a number of small to medium-sized charities in a variety of fields.  A leading charity lawyer has contributed a chapter outlining the Commission’s regulatory powers; and we are grateful for the advice and comments from a number of other leading charity lawyers who have read a confidential draft of this report and its proposals prior to its submission to the Joint Committee.

"We shall also seek the permission of the Joint Committee to give oral evidence which we believe may be helpful to their deliberations in the three areas outlined above.

"The Association is greatly encouraged by: the implementation of the Home Secretary’s undertaking to publish a draft Bill as soon as possible; the establishment of a Joint Committee from both Houses of Parliamentary to subject it to pre-legislative scrutiny; and the preparedness of the Charity Commission, as regulator, to accept the need for reform identified by the Strategy Unit 2002 Report.