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Charities Bill [HL]

My name is attached to the amendment and I am delighted to be able to support the noble and gallant Lord. We have been through the arguments extensively in the previous Committee stage of the Bill, so I shall be extraordinarily brief. Too often the Government have failed to distinguish between external and internal service charities—that is, between the Poppy Day appeal and an internal regimental charity. Internal service charities are a different category because they do not interface with the public. That interface is the main area of concern in the Bill. I recognise that the Government opened the door to SNPFs in accepting our amendments to Clause 11(12), which now permits the Secretary of State to add to categories of exempted charities in the future, not just to delete them, as originally proposed. I thank the Government for that change. Given the special nature of the internal service charities, there is no down side or danger to the sector as a whole in making the change now and accepting the noble and gallant Lord’s amendment.