Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has said the lobbying bill will not affect charities' campaigning.
Meanwhile, the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has called for a temporary withdrawal of the bill so that pre-legislative scrutiny can take place.
Yesterday, Hurd spoke publicly for the first time about the controversial lobbying bill which this week passed through to committee stage in the House of Commons despite stinging criticism from opposition MPs.
They say organisations which campaign, including charities, will be “gagged” from speaking out on issues during election times by the bill.
During Cabinet Office questions in Parliament yesterday, Hurd was asked by Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke whether he shared Elphicke's concern that "too many charities spend too much money on lobbying and on inflation-busting pay rises and bonuses for the boardroom, and that they ought to be concentrating more on the front line of helping people in need?"
Hurd responded: "I happen to think that campaigning continues to be an entirely legitimate activity for charities as long as it fits with their charitable objectives. That has always been the government’s position and I do not see this legislation affecting that."
Bubb: Charity Commission should object
Elsewhere, Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, called on William Shawcross, chair of the Charity Commission, to speak out about the lobbying bill, saying support from the regulator on the issue is vital.
Writing in his blog, Sir Stephen said no-one supported the bill. He added that it was interesting that the Charity Commission had as yet made no statement on it.
“The chair of the Charity Commission has been free with his views on a range of subjects; from political correctness to the welfare state,” he said. “You might have thought that a bill that goes to the heart of the role of charity in modern society would have worried him enough to add his voice to the groundswell of opinion on the lobbying bill.”
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “We have been following the passage of the bill and have met with the Electoral Commission, as well as the Cabinet Office. We are aware of the concerns of many charities, and the work led by NCVO as a key sector umbrella body, in campaigning against the bill.
“We are aware that the Electoral Commission has expressed its concerns that if they are to implement it as drafted at present, more charities may be required to register with them as a third party, and be subject to an upper spending limit on certain activities in the year before an election.
“This would, potentially, impact on the activities that charities carry out in furtherance of their charitable purposes. We will continue to follow the passage of the bill and in order to be clear about what the bill would require of charities and how it may impact on charity law.”
Committee: temporarily withdraw the bill
Meanwhile, the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has published a report on the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill which calls for a temporary withdrawal of the bill so it can be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.
Sir Stephen has written to Graham Allen MP, chair of the Committee, welcoming the proposal and offering to support the Committee in gathering evidence from the civil society sector.
