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Welfare Reform Bill

I am happy to speak on this amendment and will do so briefly. Refusal to respond positively to it could be self-defeating. All of us here know that charities save the public purse very considerable sums year by year in providing services that would otherwise have to be provided by public authorities; and in any way to inhibit people from helping them could be much costlier than conceding the amendment. This is not to say that cost is the only consideration. Knowing the value of policy initiatives is no less important than knowing their cost. I am sure that my noble friend Lord McKenzie will want to help if he can; if not now, then at a later stage of our consideration of the Bill.