The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will review the exclusion of several national museums and galleries from its recently introduced changes to “moral” payments laws.
In November, ex gratia payment rule changes were implemented as the delayed final two sections of the Charities Act 2022.
The changes were originally drafted to cover all charities, amending laws which allow them to make a moral decision to voluntarily return or transfer a donation they had previously received.
However, several national museums and galleries were then exempted from the changes as they have governing legislation which stops them making moral payments relating to property in their collections.
Legal experts from Bates Wells Mark Abbott and Erica Crump criticised the exclusion of the charities, saying it was inappropriate for government to “override” parliament by amending the legislation after it had received royal assent.
This month, the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI) scrutinised DCMS’s approach as part of a report laid before parliament.
In it, JCSI criticised DCMS’s reasons for amending the law changes, which include that the effect of the new ex gratia rules had not been debated sufficiently before the Charities Act was passed.
“The correct approach is to pass new legislation rather than seeking to undercut it by simply not commencing it,” it said.
However, JCSI accepted that DCMS would review the implementation of the laws, which will be due within five years of the act receiving royal assent (by February 2027).
In its contribution to the report, DCMS said: “The department has committed to review the implementation of sections 15 and 16 as part of the post-implementation review of the 2022 Act, including the exclusion of the property of relevant charities from the commencement of those sections.”
Abbott and Crump said in an article written in response: “It is unclear what this review will look like.
“However, as stated above, the DCMS memorandum to JCSI notes that they failed to commence the provision because they thought the issue should be subject to parliamentary debate, and consultation with the sector and the public.
“These are presumably the tools that DCMS will need to engage to properly review the issue before next February. We look forward to seeing DCMS’s next steps as it undertakes its review.”
