Charities Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Edward Miliband (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Cabinet Office; Doncaster North, Labour)
It is nice to see you back in the Chair, Mr. Gale. The amendment is worth considering properly. I shall briefly explain the position for the benefit of the Committee. The hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) rightly raised the issue of when disclosing the name of a trustee may place that person at risk. The Charity Commission has a dispensation to remove such information from its register. A separate power is available only to Ministers, which is to restrict access in respect of the trusts of a charity. The power has existed for 45 years or so since the early 1960s, but has not been used by Ministers. Labour Members will know that Aneurin Bevan said that the purpose of getting power is to be able to give it away. In that spirit, I make a commitment to the Committee to consider whether the power is really necessary. My immediate presumption is that it probably is not, but I shall come back on Report and I hope that I will have good news then.