Charities Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 34:"Page 18, line 37, leave out from ““effective”” to end of line 38." The noble Lord said: I think that I can dispose of this amendment quickly. It is a variation on one that was debated last February. The cy-près clause, introduced by Clause 18 to the 1993 Act, sets out the basis on which the Charity Commission or the court can make a scheme. It details the matters that they must take into account in drawing up a cy-près scheme. It is to the third of those matters, as specified in subsection (3), that my amendment relates. The first refers to"““the spirit of the original gift””." The second refers to the desirability of making sure that the original purposes are close to the new ones. The third—subsection (3)(c)—refers to,"““the need for the relevant charity to have purposes which are suitable and effective in the light of current social and economic circumstances””." My amendment would strike out those last words so that it would read,"““the need for the relevant charity to have purposes which are suitable and effective””." The reason why I and others object to the words,"““in the light of current social and economic circumstances””," are that they are prescriptive. They do not cover the circumstances of a cultural or sporting charity, or an archaeological or religious charity. Those words are not appropriate to those sort of charities and many others. On reflection, it seemed to me that those words added nothing at all. All that the Charity Commission or court need to be satisfied about is that the relevant charity has purposes that are suitable and effective. We need qualify that no further, any more than"““the spirit of the original gift””" needs to be qualified. It is clear enough what it means. The amendment is a small but significant improvement to the Bill, which I hope commends itself to the Government. I beg to move.