Joint Committee on the Draft Charities Bill Written Evidence


DCH 216 Church In Wales

Memorandum OF EVIDENCE

to the joint PARLIAMENTARY committee

ON THE DRAFT CHARITIES BILL


Introduction

1.  This memorandum is submitted by the Church In Wales ("the Church") an Anglican Church, which was disestablished from the Church of England by Act of Parliament in 1920. The Church in Wales is organised into six Dioceses each of which has a Diocesan Board of Finance (all of which are registered charitable companies). There are 1,579 parishes within the Province of Wales (the term "Parishes" will be used throughout and should be taken to include both parishes and benefices).

2.  Our main observation on the Draft Charities Bill concerns sections 7 & 8 which amend the law on the registration of excepted charities. Our Parishes are currently excepted from registration under The Charities Act 1993 and we request that the Joint Committee considers the impact that the proposed registration requirement will have on our volunteers. Our submission concerns questions 1 & 2 of the Scope of the Committee's Inquiry.

OUR VOLUNTEERS: WILL THEY BE ENCOURAGED?

3.  Our Parishes are voluntary organisations which continue to serve society as they have done over the centuries The Parishioners are active members of society undertaking voluntary work for the benefit of their fellow citizens. It is they who keep our churches open for public worship, for baptisms, weddings and funerals and ensure that our church halls are available for the use of the local community.

4.  Our main concern is the weight of legislation that is being imposed upon the voluntary sector at a time when it is under pressure from a number of areas. Our Parishes are already coping with increasing regulation of the many activities they undertake both in terms of time and money. It is the practical impact of this further regulation which is of such concern.

5.  The Children's Act and the Disability Discrimination Act are just two examples of legislation which has meant that our volunteers are expected to do even more to maintain our activities. The Church has embraced the additional work these new provisions require since there are clear benefits to be gained by society through implementing them. Where possible, we have gone further than the legal requirements to ensure the spirit of the law is taken on board and satisfied through our actions. However, in the case of registration it is simply a regulatory requirement: there is no tangible benefit.

6.   As with many other voluntary bodies we are already experiencing difficulties in recruiting secretaries and treasurers to some of our parishes and placing additional administrative burdens upon these individuals will cause further deterioration. The impact of further Regulation must be considered carefully: if we are faced with mass resignations then the structure we have today will face a real threat and may disintegrate.

Flexibility and Accountability

7.  The draft Bill includes provisions for some currently exempt charities to be treated differently in a way which avoids them having to register with the Charity Commission. These exempt charities will be registered with a "regulatory body". We request that consideration be given to our Parishes being regulated under a similar system with the Representative Body and/or the Diocesan Boards of Finance being designated as a "regulatory body". The Church in Wales has a national structure with a Representative Body and individual Diocesan Boards of Finance.

8.  The fiscal benefits to our Parishes are already regulated by the Inland Revenue. Also, the Church has its own accounting regulations which comply with charities legislation and follow the Charity Commission's best practice. These regulations require that an annual report and accounts are produced to the annual vestry meeting (a public meeting) and there is provision for a copy to be sent to the archdeacon who can take further action if the report and accounts do not comply with our regulations or the Charities Acts.

9.  When the Church was disestablished from the Church of England the parishes lost their corporate status. The land and buildings previously owned by our parishes were transferred to the Representative Body of the Church In Wales (an exempt charity which will be registered as a consequence of the new Act), or in some cases to our Diocesan Boards of Finance (registered charitable companies) and Diocesan Trusts. Therefore in all but a few instances our parishes do not hold any real property.

10.  We do not seek to evade registration, we undertake our duties diligently and comply with the law in relation to all our activities: it is the practical imposition of further regulation that is our major concern. The Private Action, Public Benefit review said of grassroots charities that these charities "by and large … present the least regulatory risk, and have the least capacity to cope with regulation" (paragraph 7.81). Our parishes are the grassroots of the Church In Wales. We believe that any further pressures on our officers may mean the difference between maintaining a structure that has benefited communities over the centuries or losing our volunteers with the consequence that the nation will lose a focus in every community which works with other statutory and voluntary organisations for the common good.

11. We understand the current intention is that the threshold for registration of existing excepted charities (£100,000 annual income) will be kept in place for a considerable time and lowered gradually. However this is primarily a way of 'managing' the registration of the many thousands of excepted charities. We object to the principle that all our Parishes must submit to individual registration with the Charity Commission and not be monitored in a way which has a 'light touch'. The impact of registration will be experienced by each individual parish regardless of whether it is this year, next year or beyond.


Is it fair to retain 'excepted' charities?

12.  Concerns were raised in the Private Action, Public Benefit review that it may be "unfair" to allow the current group of charities to retain their special status as they are "all Christian" (para 7.91). We do not seek to maintain exclusive privileges for ourselves but to question why the current model of accountability that has proved itself over the generations needs to be changed. Our model of accountability could be extended to similar organisations of any religion if deemed to be appropriate


CONCLUSION

13.  The Government has stated on many occasions that it wishes to see more people being involved in the work of the voluntary sector. There must be a balance between accountability and over-regulation. No evidence has been presented to us revealing that the present supervisory arrangements are not working effectively or efficiently. It is our view that requiring the registration of our Parishes will result in the loss of volunteers and ultimately a loss to society of the benefits, which derive from our many activities in every community in the Principality. Therefore we respectfully request that the committee considers carefully the impact of section 7 and 8 of the Draft Charities Bill on the parishes of the Church in Wales and either permit the present arrangements to remain in place or provide for a similar system to be put in place through the proposed legislation.


Prepared by  E Kay Powell

    Solicitor

    Legal Department

    Church in Wales

    June 2004


 
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Prepared 20 August 2004