Clause 44
Charities Bill [Lords]
6:00 pm
Peter Bottomley (Worthing West, Conservative)
I think I am right in saying that it is not one of the purposes of the Charity Commission to encourage mergers. In my opinion, that is the correct position for the commission to take, but I think that those of us who are involved in charities and interested in their work should encourage mergers, and I hope that all charities—whether incorporated or unincorporated—will find ways of joining together, whether as a true marriage of equals or with one becoming a restricted fund within an existing charity.
As a trustee, I am conscious of the responsibility to keep down administrative costs and I hope that those running the charities, both trustees and staff, can devote an increasing amount of their time to the purposes for which the charities exist rather than to the maintenance of the charity itself. If in 10 years’ time we had half the number of charities in this country, I expect that they would be achieving more in terms of their charitable purposes.