sc0831307.395-401

House of Commons

Session 2005 - 06
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

S.C.A.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 13th July 2006
395

Charities Bill–[ [], continued

Edward Miliband

Agreed to  199

Schedule  10,  page  174,  line  20,  at end insert—

‘18A
In relation to an offence committed in England and Wales before the

commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44)

(general limit on magistrates’ courts power to impose imprisonment), the

reference to 12 months in section 10A(4) of the 1993 Act (as inserted by

paragraph 99 of Schedule 8 to this Act) is to be read as a reference to 6

months.’.

Schedule, as amended, Agreed to.

Clauses 75 and 76 Agreed to.

Edward Miliband

Agreed to  193

Clause  77,  page  80,  line  17,  at end insert ‘and

(f)
paragraph 99 of Schedule 8 so far as it confers power to make

regulations, and section 74(1) so far as relating to that paragraph.’.

Clause, as amended, Agreed to.

Edward Miliband

Agreed to  177

Clause  78,  page  80,  line  34,  after ‘to’ insert—

‘(a)
’.

Edward Miliband

Agreed to  178

Clause  78,  page  80,  line  35,  after ‘(c. 6),’ insert ‘or

(b)
those made by Schedule 8 in the Police, Factories, &c. (Miscellaneous

Provisions) Act 1916 (c. 31), or

(c)
the repeal made in that Act by Schedule 9,’.

Edward Miliband

Agreed to  179

Clause  78,  page  80,  line  39,  leave out subsection (8).

Clause, as amended, Agreed to.

S.C.A.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 13th July 2006
396

Charities Bill–[ [], continued

New Clauses

Duties of trustees

Mr Andrew Turner

Mr Peter Bone

Peter Bottomley

James Duddridge

Withdrawn  nc1

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
A charity trustee must, in exercising functions in that capacity, act in the interests

of the charity and must, in particular—

(a)
seek, in good faith, to ensure that the charity acts in a manner which is

consistent with its purposes;

(b)
act with the care and diligence that it is reasonable to expect of a person

who is managing the affairs of another person; and

(c)
in circumstances capable of giving rise to a conflict of interest between

the charity and any person responsible for the appointment or

remuneration of the charity trustee—

(i)
put the interests of the charity before those of the other person, or

(ii)
where any other duty prevents the charity trustee from doing so,

disclose the conflicting interest to the charity and refrain from

participating in any deliberation or decision of the other charity

trustees with respect to the matter in question.

(2)
The charity trustees of a charity must ensure that the charity complies with any

direction, requirement, notice or duty imposed on it by virtue of this Act.

(3)
Subsections (1) and (2) are without prejudice to any other duty imposed by

enactment or otherwise on a charity trustee in relation to the exercise of functions

in that capacity.

(4)
Any breach of the duties under subsections (1) or (2) is to be treated as being

misconduct in the administration of the charity.

(5)
All charity trustees must take such steps as are reasonably practicable for the

purposes of ensuring—

(a)
that any breach of a duty under subsections (1) or (2) is corrected by the

trustee concerned and not repeated; and

(b)
that any trustee who has been in serious or persistent breach of either or

both of those duties is removed as a trustee.

(6)
For the purposes of this section “charity trustee” includes an individual

representative of a corporate trustee.’.

Power to institute inquiries

Mr Andrew Turner

Mr Peter Bone

Peter Bottomley

James Duddridge

Not moved  nc2

To move the following Clause:—

S.C.A.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 13th July 2006
397

Charities Bill–[ [], continued

‘(1)
Section 8 of the 1993 Act is amended as follows—

(2)
At the beginning of subsection (1), insert “Subject to subsection (1A) below”.

(3)
After subsection (1), insert—

“(1A)
The Commissioners may only institute such an inquiry on reasonable

grounds and such grounds must be communicated in writing by the

Commission within 7 days of the opening of such an inquiry to—

(a)
the persons who are, or claim to be, the charity trustees of every

institution which is the subject of such an inquiry; and

(b)
(if a body corporate) each institution which is the subject of such

an inquiry.”.

(4)
After subsection (6), insert—

“(6A)
In the case of either form of publication determined by the

Commissioners under subsection (6) above, the Commissioners shall

allow the persons who are, or claim to be, the charity trustees of every

institution which is the subject of such an inquiry to add their own

comments to such report or statement provided such comments are not

manifestly unreasonable and are provided within such reasonable period

as the Commissioners may determine.”’.

Reasons for appointing an interim manager of a charity

Mr Andrew Turner

Mr Peter Bone

Peter Bottomley

James Duddridge

Not called  nc3

To move the following Clause:—

‘In section 19 of the 1993 Act, after subsection (1), insert—

“(1A)
Within seven days of an appointment under subsection (1), the

Commission must communicate in writing to—

(a)
the persons who are or claim to be the charity trustees of the

institution concerned; and

(b)
(if a body corporate) the institution which is the subject of such

an appointment;


the reasons why they consider such an appointment necessary and

appropriate.”’.

S.C.A.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 13th July 2006
398

Charities Bill–[ [], continued

Remuneration of an interim manager of a charity

Mr Andrew Turner

Mr Peter Bone

Peter Bottomley

James Duddridge

Not called  nc4

To move the following Clause:—

‘In section 19 of the 1993 Act—

(a)
in subsection (5) leave out “the charity concerned” and insert “the

commission”;

(b)
in subsection (6) leave out “out of the income from the charities

concerned” and insert “by the commission”.’.

Amendment of section 19 of the 1993 Act

Mr Andrew Turner

Mr Peter Bone

Peter Bottomley

James Duddridge

Not called  nc5

To move the following Clause:—

‘Section 19 of the 1993 Act in subsection (3) is amended by inserting after “as

they think fit”, the words “, who may, where appropriate to the size of the charity

and expertise required by the charity, act in a voluntary capacity.”’.

Disqualification for acting as a charity trustee

James Duddridge

Mr Andrew Turner

Withdrawn  nc6

To move the following Clause:—

‘In section 72 of the 1993 Act (Persons disqualified for being trustees of a

charity), at beginning insert—

“(A1)
A person may not be disqualified from being a charity trustee on the

grounds of a learning disability.”’.

S.C.A.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 13th July 2006
399

Charities Bill–[ [], continued

Loss of charitable status

Martin Horwood

Withdrawn  NC7

To move the following Clause:—

‘Where charitable status is withdrawn from any organisation or institution the

assets of that charity must be deployed or protected for the charitable purpose for

which they were originally constituted with regard to—

(a)
the continuity of that purpose;

(b)
the need to maintain public confidence in that purpose; and

(c)
the interests of beneficiaries.’.

The Charity Independent Complaints Reviewer

Martin Horwood

Withdrawn  NC8

To move the following Clause:—

‘After section 2D of the 1993 Act (inserted by section 8 of this Act) insert—

“Part 1B

THE CHARITY INDEPENDENT COMPLAINTS REVIEWER

2E
The Charity Independent Complaints Reviewer

(1)
There shall be a complaints reviewer to be known as the Charity Independent

Complaints Reviewer (in this Act referred to as “the Reviewer”).

(2)
The function of the Reviewer will be to investigate complaints against the Charity

Commission’s performance of its regulatory role and, where appropriate, make

financial awards of compensation against the Charity Commission, whether

limited consolatory payments or unlimited payments for financial loss, and make

recommendations.

(3)
Except where the Reviewer finds the complainant has acted frivolously,

vexatiously or unreasonably, the complainant shall not be required to pay any part

of the costs of the investigation.

(4)
No complainant shall be required to use any internal complaints procedure of the

Charity Commission, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, the

Charity Tribunal or the courts before the Reviewer will consider the case, and any

consideration by the Reviewer will not prevent the case subsequently being

considered by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration or the courts.

(5)
The Reviewer shall be appointed by the Lord Chancellor on such other terms as

he, after consultation, shall think fit.”’.

S.C.A.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 13th July 2006
400

Charities Bill–[ [], continued

Appointment and payment of the Receiver and Manager

Martin Horwood

Negatived on division  NC9

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
In section 19(1) of the Charities Act 1993, at end insert “subject to a public tender

exercise conducted in line with best practice from the Office of Government

Commerce.”

(2)
In section 19(6)(b) of the Chairities Act 1993 (c. 10), after “the income of the

charities concerned”, insert “subject to a public tender exercise and up to a sum

agreed in such an exercise, any additional costs to be met by the Commission.”’.

Property in trusts from residuary legacies

Martin Horwood

Withdrawn  NC10

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
After section 36(5) of the Charities Act 1993 (c.10) insert—

“(5A)
References to a “charity trustee” in this section mean a trustee of the

relevant charity or any proper officer with delegated authority from

trustees.”

(2)
After section 36(9) of the 1993 Act insert—

“(9A)
Requirements in subsection (3), above, do not apply to any property

under the value of £500,000 or a sum afterwards determined by an order,

a draft of which has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of,

each House of Parliament.”’.

Small charities: remittance of fees

Mr Andrew Turner

Withdrawn  nc11

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
Where any fee or charge is payable to a local authority under any enactment, the

local authority may draw up and operate a scheme of fee remittances for any class

of small charities.

(2)
“Small charity” in this section means any charity with a turnover of less than

£100,000 per year.’.

S.C.A.  Standing Committee Proceedings: 13th July 2006
401

Charities Bill–[ [], continued

Powers of assistance and supervision of charities

Mr Andrew Turner

Not selected  nc12

To move the following Clause:—

‘In undertaking any action under sections 19, 20, 21 or 26, the Commission shall

have regard to—

(a)
the need to ensure that the burden on staff or volunteers of the charity is

proportionate to the objectives of the action taken or proposed;

(b)
the need to ensure that its costs are proportionate to the objectives of the

action taken or proposed; and

(c)
the extent to which the charity depends on regular donations from

members of the public.’.

Exercise of information powers

Mr Andrew Turner

Withdrawn  nc13

To move the following Clause:—

‘Before section 8 of the 1993 Act insert—

“Z8
Exercise of information powers

In undertaking any action under sections 19, 20 or 26, the Commission

shall have regard to—

(a)
the need to ensure that the burden on staff or volunteers of the

charity is proportionate to the objectives of the action taken or

proposed;

(b)
the need to ensure that its costs are proportionate to the

objectives of the action taken or proposed; and

(c)
the extent to which the charity depends on regular donations

from members of the public.”.’.

Disclosure of information to and by Northern Ireland regulator

Edward Miliband

Added  NC14

To move the following Clause:—

‘(1)
This section applies if a body (referred to in this section as “the Northern Ireland

regulator”) is established to exercise functions in Northern Ireland which are

similar in nature to the functions exercised in England and Wales by the Charity

Commission.