Bates Wells & Braithwaite identifies concerns with draft Charities Bill
Howard Lake | 2 June 2004 | News
Charity law specialists Bates Wells & Braithwaite (BWB) have broadly welcomed the draft Charities Bill, but have raised concerns about some of the clauses.
The law firm is concerned about the workability of the public charitable collection proposals, and the lack of a statutory obligation on the Charity Commission to act fairly. As a result, it says that “the consultation period must be seized by charities as an opportunity to influence the detail of the legislation”.
BWB have published a free 11-page analysis of the draft Bill.
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Under the regulation section BWB state their concern about the “conspicuous absence” of any statement “explicitly requiring the Commission to act with proper principles of substantive and procedural fairness, including in accordance with the Human Rights Act and the general rules of natural justice.”
Similarly the firm finds no “prescriptive provision, as suggested by the Strategy Unit Report, to ensure the Commission has a clear and streamlined internal appeal procedure”.
The firm’s analysis of the Bill’s propose for fundraising is particularly clear and helfpul.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.