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Charities Bill

I am delighted to make a guest appearance, on a one-off basis—it is very charitable of me—on behalf of the shadow Department for Constitutional Affairs team. The tenor and tone of this debate, which is on a hugely important subject, has been constructive and good natured. We all agree that the Government are moving in the right direction, but the Opposition have the job of probing, pressing and improving law as it passes through the House. First and foremost, I commend the Government on moving slowly—not always by design, as the general election intervened—and on taking their time to consult and to try to get right a major reform of a law that, as several Members have said, has been in place since 1601, before the Act of Union. As we know, we had the draft Bill, which was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny—we heard a powerful contribution from the Chairman of the Joint Committee, to which I will return in a moment—and which completed most or all of its stages before falling at the general election. We then had the amended Bill, which was introduced and passed all its stages in another place. The Government are to be congratulated on listening at every stage and on improving the proposed legislation. Much progress has been made, and we look forward to more progress during the remaining weeks of the Bill’s passage. The job is not yet done, however, as a number of serious concerns remain. It is worth alerting the House to the fact that though there is a wide consensus on the issue, this is not a Bill, if ever there were one, that we should nod through with our eyes half-closed. It is much too serious and important for that. There are a number of pitfalls that need to be avoided. The new Charity Commission will be a powerful institution that can set guidelines to determine which charities that currently enjoy the assumption of public interest will do so in future. We must remain alert to those hugely important new powers as the Bill moves through every remaining stage of its passage through the House. This is also an opportunity to place on the record the tremendous good that many charities do. As we know, and as many Members have recognised in the debate, society is not just about the state and the individual. There is a huge voluntary, charitable and faith sector in between, which exists to do good, fill the gap and stand in the breach. That is one subject on which all Members of Parliament are experts, as we have examples in our constituencies of unsung heroes—our favourite charities and organisations—who rush around serving other people. Even tonight, as we debate this Bill, countless thousands of people in this great country are going out and about serving other people simply because they want to make their lives better. Let us just imagine the gaping hole that there would be in our country if that activity did not happen. Those heroes deserve a legal and regulatory framework that lifts them up, imposes the minimum of regulation, provides the maximum clarity and regulates with a light touch. That will be one of our concerns as the Bill passes through the House. First and foremost, I appreciate the advent in the Bill of charitable incorporated organisation status. As someone who used to have a proper job as a corporate lawyer—