None
Charities Bill [Lords]
12:00 pm
Alun Michael (Cardiff South and Penarth, Labour)
I am interested in the hon. Gentleman’s response to my hon. Friend, because it seems to me that the list in clause 2(2) very much reflects the developments that he was referring to. Paragraph (i), for instance, refers to
“the advancement of environmental protection or improvement”
and I also particularly welcome, as I did on Second Reading, the inclusion of animal welfare. It is clear that animal welfare cannot directly be the welfare of people. Is not it essential, however, that there should be a test to prevent an organisation’s simply saying, “We exist to serve the arts”—to take the arts as an example—“and therefore we are charitable”? There must be a test of whether the organisations will operate for the wider public benefit, and that is what the public benefit test is about. However, clause 2(2) surely covers the hon. Gentleman’s point.