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(6) Any person specified, or of a description specified, in regulations made under this section who discloses information in contravention of subsection (5) is guilty of an offence and liable-
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or both.
(7) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (5) of disclosing information to prove that he reasonably believed-
(a) that the disclosure was lawful, or
(b) that the information had already and lawfully been made available to the public.
(8) In the application of this section to Scotland or Northern Ireland, the reference to 12 months in subsection (6) is to be read as a reference to 6 months.
“relevant public authority” means-
(a) any government department (other than a Northern Ireland department),
(b) any local authority in England, Wales or Scotland,
(c) any person who is a constable in England and Wales or Scotland,
(d) any other body or person discharging functions of a public nature (including a body or person discharging regulatory functions in relation to any description of activities), except a body or person whose functions are exercisable only or mainly in or as regards Northern Ireland and relate only or mainly to transferred matters;
“Revenue and Customs information” means information held as mentioned in section 18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (c. 11);
“transferred matter” has the same meaning as in the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47).”
63: Clause 72, page 77, line 21, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
64: Page 77, line 31, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
65: Page 77, line 34, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
66: Page 77, line 40, leave out from “the” to “, it” and insert “appointed day (within the meaning of section of this Act”
67: Clause 73, page 78, line 2, leave out “the Secretary of State” and insert “a relevant Minister”
68: Page 78, line 9, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “relevant Minister”
69: Page 78, line 10, leave out “the Secretary of State” and insert “a relevant Minister”
70: Page 78, line 16, at end insert-
“(ba) any regulations under section (Disclosure of information to and by Northern Ireland regulator),”
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71: Page 78, line 19, after “” insert “or (Amendments reflecting changes in company law audit provisions)”
72: Page 78, line 21, after “(b)” insert “(ba)”
73: Page 78, line 22, leave out “the Secretary of State” and insert “a relevant Minister”
74: Page 78, line 28, at end insert-
“(7) In this section “relevant Minister” means the Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office.”
75: Clause 74, page 78, line 34, leave out “The Secretary of State” and insert “A relevant Minister”
76: Page 78, line 41, at end insert “(including an enactment restating, with or without modifications, an enactment amended by this Act).”
77: Page 78, line 41, at end insert-
“(6) In this section “relevant Minister” means the Secretary of State or the Minister for the Cabinet Office.”
78: Clause 75, page 79, line 2, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
79: Clause 76, page 80, line 8, at end insert-
“(5A) In this Act “the Minister” means the Minister for the Cabinet Office.”
80: Before Clause 77, insert the following new Clause-
“Amendments reflecting changes in company law audit provisions
(1) The Minister may by order make such amendments of the 1993 Act or this Act as he considers appropriate-
(a) in consequence of, or in connection with, any changes made or to be made by any enactment to the provisions of company law relating to the accounts of charitable companies or to the auditing of, or preparation of reports in respect of, such accounts;
(b) for the purposes of, or in connection with, applying provisions of Schedule 5A to the 1993 Act (group accounts) to charitable companies that are not required to produce group accounts under company law.
“accounts” includes group accounts;
“amendments” includes repeals and modifications;
“charitable companies” means companies which are charities;
“company law” means the enactments relating to companies.”
81: Clause 77, page 80, line 15, at end insert-
“(ca) section (Amendments reflecting changes in company law audit provisions),”
82: Page 80, line 17, at end insert-
“(f) the following provisions of Schedule 8 -
paragraph 99 so far as it confers power to make regulations, and
and section 75 (1) so far as relating to those provisions.”
7 Nov 2006 : Column 712
83: Page 80, line 18, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
84: Page 80, line 22, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
85: Clause 78, page 80, line 28, leave out subsections (3) and (4) and insert-
“(3) The following provisions extend also to Scotland-
(c) sections (Disclosure of information to and by Northern Ireland regulator) and ,
(d) section 75 (2) and (3) and Schedules 9 and 10 so far as relating to the Recreational Charities Act 1958 (c. 17), and
(e) section 75 (4) and (5), sections 76 to 79 and this section.
(3A) But the provisions referred to in subsection (3)(a) and (d) affect the law of Scotland only so far as they affect the construction of references to charities or charitable purposes in enactments which relate to matters falling within Section A1 of Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) (reserved matters: fiscal policy etc.); and so far as they so affect the law of Scotland-
(a) references in sections (1) and (1) to the law of England and Wales are to be read as references to the law of Scotland, and
(b) the reference in section (1) to the High Court is to be read as a reference to the Court of Session.
(3B) The following provisions extend also to Northern Ireland-
(d) sections 72 (Disclosure of information to and by Northern Ireland regulator) and 74,
(e) section 75 (2) and (3) and Schedules 9 and 10 so far as relating to the Recreational Charities Act 1958 (c. 17), and
(f) section 75 (4) and (5), sections 76 to 99 and this section.
(3C) But the provisions referred to in subsection (3B)(a) and (e) affect the law of Northern Ireland only so far as they affect the construction of references to charities or charitable purposes in enactments which relate to matters falling within paragraph 9 of Schedule 2 to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47) (excepted matters: taxes and duties); and so far as they so affect the law of Northern Ireland-
(a) references in sections 1 (1) and 2 (1) to the law of England and Wales are to be read as references to the law of Northern Ireland, and
(b) the reference in section 1 (1) to the High Court is to be read as a reference to the High Court in Northern Ireland.”
86: Page 80, line 34, leave out “But this does not apply to” and insert-
7 Nov 2006 : Column 713
“(6) But subsection (5) does not apply to any amendment or repeal made in the Recreational Charities Act 1958 (c. 17) by a provision referred to in subsection (3) or (3B).
(6A) Subsection (5) also does not apply to-
87: Page 80, line 35, after “(c. 6),” insert “or
(b) those made by Schedule in the Police, Factories, &c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 (c. 31), or
(c) the repeal made in that Act by Schedule 9,”
88: Page 80, line 36, leave out subsection (7)
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 46 to 88.
Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.
89: Page 80, line 39, leave out subsection (8)
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 89. The amendment simply removes the privilege amendment.
Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.
90: Schedule 1, page 81, line 11, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
91: Page 81, line 12, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
92: Page 82, line 5, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
93: Page 82, line 6, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
94: Page 82, line 8, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
95: Page 82, line 19, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
96: Page 82, line 21, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
97: Page 82, line 24, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
98: Page 82, line 29, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
99: Page 82, line 33, leave out “Secretary of State” and insert “Minister”
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 90 to 99.
Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Motion agreed to.
100: Page 82, leave out lines 38 to 43 and insert-
“(2)The terms and conditions of service of persons appointed under sub-paragraph (1) are to be such as the Commission may determine with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service.”
Lord Bassam of Brighton: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 100.
7 Nov 2006 : Column 714
The amendment reverses an amendment made in your Lordships’ House on Report, on 12 October last year. That amendment was moved by the noble Lord, Lord Phillips of Sudbury, who, for reasons that we well understand, is no longer with us. His contribution to this Bill—and to the field of charity law over many years—has been second to none. As ever, I shall not avoid an opportunity to praise him for that. He has done a fine service, and we are greatly in his debt.
However, the amendment had an effect which I believe went further than the noble Lord foresaw or intended. It is to reverse that effect that the Government made their counter-amendment in another place. The noble Lord, Lord Phillips, was rightly concerned to secure the independence of the Charity Commission from ministerial interference and control in the way it operates in regulating charities. Many of your Lordships shared the view that the commission must be independent in how it operates as a regulator. The Government strongly share that vision. For that reason we have included in the Bill a provision expressly asserting and guaranteeing the commission’s independence. The provision is in new Section 1A of the 1993 Act, inserted by Clause 6 of the Bill. It says:
“In the exercise of its functions the Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any Minister of the Crown or other Government department”.
I do not think it would be possible to be clearer than that as to the commission’s independence as a regulator from ministerial influence.
The need for the provision inserted by the amendment comes from the fact that the commission is—and, under the Bill, is to remain—a non-ministerial government department. While the commission is a non-ministerial department, its staff must be in the Home Civil Service. Without the amendment there will be, at the very least, serious doubt as to whether the commission’s staff were in the Home Civil Service. We would be in the highly unsatisfactory position of having to tell the staff of a government department that the effect of the Bill might well be to remove them from the Civil Service. We could not, however, tell them with any certainty what their status was, since there is no obvious precedent for a government department outside the Civil Service.
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