NCVO and Acevo issued a joint statement criticising the government's amendments to the controversial lobbying bill for not going far enough to protect charities' campaigning activity.
The government published its amendments to the bill today and has scheduled the report stage and third reading in the House of Commons for next week. Last month the government agreed to make changes to the bill in a bid to allay sector fears that it will restrict their ability to campaign.
But today NCVO and Acevo said that the legal advice they had received was that the amendments were insufficient.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said: “The amendments leave a great deal of uncertainty and ambiguity.
"In short, many organisations including small community groups will be required to consult the Electoral Commission before undertaking campaigning activity in an election period in order to ensure they are not falling foul of the new regulations.”
While he welcomed the government’s attempt to address charities’ concerns, “the assurances given by ministers on the floor of the House to ensure that charities will still be able to support specific policies that might also be advocated by political parties, have not been met”.
Etherington added that despite the proposed amendments, "much campaigning activity by charities and other voluntary groups will still be covered by this excessively bureaucratic and burdensome regime”.
Bubb: curbing freedom of speech
Acevo's Sir Stephen Bubb added: “The government is clearly keen to show it is listening to civil society, but these amendments don't prevent the bill curbing freedom of speech around elections.
"The bill greatly increases bureaucracy for civil society groups in the year before an election, by halving the spending thresholds above which organisations have to register with the Electoral Commission. It also drastically restricts civil society's spending on public campaigns in election years.”
Bubb also criticised the timing of the amendments: “Publishing these amendments today leaves two working days for civil society to consider them before they are debated in the Commons.
"This rushed timeframe is an object lesson in poor law-making, and will only necessitate further damage-limitating amendments after the next debates."
The bill returns to the House of Commons next Tuesday, 8 October.
