Memorandum from Mr Woolford (DCH 347)
I hope I am not too late to make a brief submission
about the regulation of Charities.
Some people think that the Charities Commission
has too much power, others think it hasn't enough. All I wish
to say is that in view of the new Human Rights laws protecting
the individual from the actions of "public bodies",
I think it is important that the Commission is given adequate
powers to call to account rogue religious organisations. I'm afraid
that there are such that permit their salaried ministers to abuse
the rights of parishioners, conducting time and money-wasting
inquisitions at the largesse of the British taxpayer.
I realise that, to be considered public for
the purposes of Human Rights legislation, such an organisation
would have to be engaged in activities that the government itself
could have engaged in—feeding the homeless for example—and
they usually are. Human rights legislation does not of course
cover private conflicts.
I have no wish to name any specific organisation
here, but it would be comforting to see that the Charities Commission
is given the teeth to deal with complaints. That they can ensure
that those receiving salaries subsidised by the public purse put
their time into genuinely charitable aims, not internecine vendettas
of dubious legality.
July 2004
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