Charities Bill [HL]

I take the amendment as one encouraging the Charity Commission to look in a friendly manner on the new ideas proposed by charities and would-be charities, rather than being obstructive—saying, ““It’s not been done before; you can’t do it””. When I set up my charity, the Charity Commission had absolutely no idea what telemedicine was. It asked, ““How does it help anyone?”” With the aid of several articles, those dealing with our registration as a charity were taught what telemedicine is and how it works. That was about seven or eight years ago. Today, few people in the country do not know what telemedicine is; then it was very new. I would not want the Charity Commission automatically to say, ““It’s not been done before; you can’t do it””. I want it to think, ““That’s new; let’s see how it can be done and how it helps people—how it helps the public generally””. With a bit of persuasion, in our case, that was done. I am grateful; the charity has been growing exponentially since then because the demand has been so great and it has helped hospitals in remote places in the developing world in post-conflict situations. That is how I read my noble friend’s amendment and I hope that the Minister will support it.