Stephen Lloyd has been appointed as the expert lawyer to advise Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on the review of the Charities Act 2006.

As a result of his appointment to the government’s review Lloyd, a senior partner at Bates Wells and Braithwaite, will step down from the NCVO’s Charity Law Advisory Group, which is also undertaking its own parallel review of the Act.

The government announced last week that Lord Hodgson would lead the review and said at the time that a legal expert would be appointed to work with him on it for one day a week at a reduced commercial rate.

Lloyd will bring a unique perspective to the work – he is a highly experienced charity lawyer but also known for his strong views.  For instance, in the aftermath of the Upper Tribunal’s judgment on the independent schools case, he wrote an opinion article for civilsociety.co.uk suggesting that the real winners in the case were lawyers, because the lack of clear guidance from the judges would likely encourage all parties to consult their lawyers going forward.

The NCVO’s Charity Law Review Advisory Group will not be replacing Lloyd.

The NCVO group has also published its terms of reference for the review which were agreed on 1 November at its first meeting and state that: “The aim of the Advisory Group is to develop and consider proposals for improving the legal and regulatory framework in which charities operate”, and that it will focus on the Act’s “overall effect on public trust and confidence in charities”.