Civil Society Minister to give evidence to Charity Bill Committee
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the draft Protection of Charities Bill will take evidence from Rob Wilson, MP, Minister for Civil Society on Tuesday 13 January.
Areas the Committee will cover with the Minister include:
- How effectively has the Charity Commission responded effectively to criticism from the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee?
- Are all the new powers in the draft Bill needed given that evidence about the recent performance of the Charity Commission has been generally more positive?
- How well does the Charity Commission work with other agencies such as the police and HMRC?
- What value would giving the Commission the statutory power to issue a warning to a charity provide?
- Is it appropriate for the Commission to be able to disqualify a charity trustee on the basis of a caution rather than a conviction for an offence?
- Are there concerns that the Commission's scrutiny of charities it deems to be at risk of extremism are seen to unfairly target certain groups?
The public session will start at 2.15pm on Tuesday 13 January in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords.
The session will be webcast at www.parliamentlive.tv and is also open to the public. Journalists wishing to attend should go to Parliament's Cromwell Green Entrance and should allow time for security screening.
