Two of the sector’s most politically influential organisations are piling pressure on the government on the lobbying bill, with Acevo launching a commission to investigate its impact, and NCVO seeking to feed into government's amendments to allay charities' worries. 

Following a barrage of criticism about the lobbying bill from charities, the government has agreed to make amendments to make clear that charities’ campaigning is not inadvertently caught in its scope.

Yesterday, Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, wrote to the Leader of the House Andrew Lansley, setting out suggested amendments to the bill.

He also urged Lansley to hold a roundtable with itself, the Electoral Commission, the Charity Commission and other representatives once the government has published the amendments.

Bubb suggests lobbying bill listening exercise

Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, is already meeting with Lansley and Deputy Leader of the House Tom Brake today, to urge them to 'take a pause' and listen to the views of civil society on the bill.

Writing in his blog today, Sir Stephen said he will meet the Leaders of the House with his chair Lesley-Anne Alexander, who is chief executive of RNIB, to urge them to suspend the bill to allow for proper scrutiny of its potential impact.

“There is a close precedent for this,” Bubb said.  “When the government found major opposition to the Health Bill it took a brave and very sensible decision to pause the bill and launch the listening exercise. Both Andrew and I have strong memories of this. It helped improve the bill and allowed the amended version to pass through Parliament.”

Sir Stephen led the government’s 'listening exercise' on the Health Bill in 2011.

Today, Sir Stephen has also announced a new cross-sector group that will scrutinise the lobbying bill.

The Commission on Civil Society and Democracy is a coalition of civil society organisations that will investigate the impact of the proposed legislation on civil society following concerns that it will have a chilling effect on charities and campaigning organisations speaking out on issues of public concern ahead of elections.

Sir Stephen said it includes a broad range of 37 organisations, including the Royal British Legion, the Women’s Institute and Christian Aid.

Commenting on the Commission, Sir Stephen said: “Obviously government has a timetable in terms of getting this sorted in time for the May 2015 election but there is time. Our Commission should be given a chance to undertake those consultations and to feed them into the Lords' discussions, when the government can then decide how best to make the necessary changes to ensure the voice of civil society is protected. There are cross-party concerns about this bill. So let's listen to them.

“A listening exercise will demonstrate strength by the government. I hope I can persuade Andrew of that.”

Elsewhere, NCVO has announced the make-up of the group that will create a set of standards for charity campaigning and lobbying. It follows the unveiling of the government’s proposed register of lobbyists, which does not cover charities.

The group will meet for the first time next month, with the aim of publishing the standards in March 2014.

The members of the group are:

• Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive, NCVO (chair)
• Hilary Allison, policy director, Woodland Trust
• Jonathan Breckon, manager, Alliance for Useful Evidence, Nesta
• Helen Cameron, head of public affairs, Salvation Army
• Angela Kitching, head of public affairs, Age UK
• Sara Llewellin, chief executive, Barrow Cadbury Trust
• Vicki Nash, head of policy and campaigns, Mind
• Chris Simpkins, director general, The Royal British Legion
• Neil Sinden, director of policy and campaigns, Campaign to Protect Rural England
• Chris West, head of media and public affairs, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research
• James White, campaigns manager, Guide Dogs for the Blind