My Lords, I am grateful to noble Lords for a giving such a thorough explanation of why the Government need to take away Schedule 3 and think again. The many increases in activities that count towards qualifying expenses in this part of the Bill account for a great deal of its unworkability, and for the concerns and fears that have been raised in civil society. My noble friend Lady Lister rightly spoke of the cumulative effect of the various measures in the Bill, but I suggest that this schedule has a profound effect on people’s views of it.
The Minister, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Wallace, said that volunteers would not be covered in the Bill, but that is not enough. It is clear that the main problem with Schedule 3 is the inclusion of staff costs as a qualifying expense. Political parties are not subject to this requirement and it is therefore unclear why the Government believe that charities and NGOs should be. It is worth looking at the original document from the Electoral Commission that the Government claim as the inspiration for some of the Bill. It said, as regards counting the staff time of political parties:
“Bringing directly employed staff costs within the scope of the spending controls would have significant implications, which would need to be considered before the change could be implemented. It would impose new administrative burdens on parties, and the detail of what spending is covered would need to be carefully considered and defined”.
The report continued:
“It could take up a significant part of the larger parties’ campaign spending under the current spending limits and the spending limits would therefore need to be re-visited”.
If this is the case for political parties, the same would apply to charities and NGOs. Indeed, they have presented a great deal of evidence about the burden that would be placed on them. Amnesty International has pointed out that during an election period it produces manifestos on human rights, organises hustings, undertakes pledge-card activity and co-ordinates media activities. These activities could mean that the new spending thresholds would be met, and therefore staff time would have to meet new reporting requirements that would seriously draw on resources—a reminder that with this Bill it is often the new provisions taken together that would work to stifle democratic expression. That is what the larger organisations fear. The smaller ones, however, would struggle to an even greater extent to meet the onerous reporting requirements.
The NCVO has presented a case study that amply demonstrates this. If, for instance, a small disability charity campaigning on welfare reform employs an additional member of staff to run local campaigns in the run-up to the election, the charity must account
for the person’s time and monitor which activities undertaken by local groups could amount to controlled expenditure. Even if a simple approach were taken by looking at a yearly salary, this could immediately bring the organisation over the threshold—for example, one public affairs officer on £30,000 per year. Surely the Government, who talk so often and so loudly about reducing red tape, are not prepared to place such a regulatory burden on charities. The noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, cited the example of the RSPB, which contends that the impact assessment prepared for Part 2 understates the extent to which it will mean that charities and NGOs will have to spend money on administration rather than on their core work. The RSPB states:
“This would siphon money away from conservation work and amount to an unnecessarily onerous regulatory burden: more than the £0–800 per organisation for implementation estimated in the Impact Assessment”.
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Unfortunately, staff costs are not the only additional requirement. The noble Lord, Lord Tyler, also raised the important point that charities understandably are mindful of staffing costs. Fortunately, noble Lords have in many of the amendments in this group presented the Government with options that they can use to remove the increased burden that the Bill presents. We heard many compelling instances and speeches, not least the preceding one made by the noble Lord, Lord Best, citing the case made by the excellent NCVO. The case of the Countryside Alliance and the hunting ban is instructive, and I hope that the Minister will answer that specific point. The noble Lord, Lord Best, was also right to point out that it is the media that put a political perspective into many of the campaigns. I am not entirely sure how one can provide for that in the Bill.
The amendment in the names of my noble and learned friend Lord Morris and the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, takes the critical step of excluding from campaign expenditure translation into Welsh or English. As my noble and learned friend said, English and Welsh should have equal validity, which should not be jeopardised by the Bill. Noble Lords have spoken of Lord Roberts of Conwy, who did so much for the Welsh language. I have to say that were he here this evening, I have no doubt that he would support the amendment. As my noble and learned friend pointed out, the Bill as drafted could mean that an organisation might choose not to publish its campaign material in Welsh in order not to breach the spending limits. Not only would this be bad, but it could turn out to be illegal in relation to the 1993 Act.
Amendments 161A and 165B, in the name of the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Harries, carry the weight of authority that stems from a genuine consultation. Like other amendments, they have the effect of removing staff costs and the costs of translation services from the list of qualifying expenses. They also make a number of other proposals for expenses that should not be included. The cost of security, mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Horam, is important in the context of Northern Ireland. Given the sympathy that the Minister earlier expressed with regard to the specific
circumstances in relation to Northern Ireland, I imagine that the Government will wish to take up this suggestion, as they will with the cost of making documents accessible to the visually impaired, or those who are disabled or who have learning difficulties—or, indeed, the transport costs of people with disabilities.
I am sure that the Minister will accept these sensible suggestions, otherwise there is effectively a higher marginal regulatory burden for charities and NGOs that want to campaign around issues surrounding disabilities. That would not be fair. Access to information for disabled people should be a right that should not be curtailed. I was interested in the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham, about the needs of people with learning or other disabilities who are grappling with the justice system. I sympathise with his question: why should people be put into fear simply because of sloppy or inappropriate drafting? I cannot imagine that that is what the Government would have wished to include in the Bill.
I note Amendment 160J in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, and other amendments in the group and will return to them at a later stage. I certainly support Amendment 165C, which removes the power of the Secretary of State in Schedule 3 to amend Part 1 by order. I have a deal of sympathy with the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, in respect of research papers and look forward to the Minister’s reply, as well as his reply in relation to the issue of conferences that might unintentionally be judged to be political in the run-up to an election. I hope that when the Minister responds, he will be able to allay the fears of those who have spoken, and will promise that when the Government return on Report, they will have made significant changes to the kinds of spending that count as qualified expenses.