Charities Bill [HL]

The noble Lord, Lord   Hodgson, rightly said that we debated this amendment in Grand Committee last Session, on 23   February. I thank him for referring the Committee to the comments of my noble friend Lord Bassam in Hansard at col. GC 312, which still stand. I also draw Committee Members’ attention to the letter sent by him to all colleagues who spoke at Second Reading on 7 June. I placed a copy of that letter in the Library. As we have said before, the Government and the Charity Commission wholeheartedly agree with the principles behind this suggestion. But the Government believe that it is more appropriate to leave its implementation to management action by the commission rather than deal with it in statute. The commission aims to differentiate clearly between advice and regulation. For example, at the beginning of its publications, it states that the words ““recommend or advise”” are used where the commission is suggesting to trustees actions which it considers to be good practice, but which do not represent a legal requirement, and the word ““must”” is used to refer to actions that trustees, or their agents or employees, are obliged to take by law. The commission has been working to make this as clear as possible. In its recent publication, The Essential Trustee, a clear symbol is   used to help readers easily identify those sections which contain a legal or regulatory requirement. The commission is continuing to review its structure and communications to this end. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, and others would agree, we want to ensure that the practitioners, especially the small charities, when they come to look at the commission’s documentation, can say, ““This is what I need to do and this is advice that I can take seriously in terms of good practice””. That is what we need to do on a pragmatic basis and we believe that that is where the focus should be.