The Draft Charities Bill

The Draft Bill was announced in the Queen’s Speech on 26 November 2003 and published in May 2004. The Home Office was responsible for the preparation of the Draft Bill. The Charity Commission worked very closely with the Home Office’s Active Communities Directorate in its preparation.

The publication of the Draft Charities Bill allowed both the public and a Parliamentary Committee made up of MPs and Peers (Joint Committee on the Draft Charities Bill) to examine and comment on the proposals before the Parliamentary process began.

Information about the Draft Charities Bill and some of the discussion documents prepared for the pre-legislative scrutiny can be accessed via the links below.

Public Collections

• One of the areas covered in the Draft Bill is that of public collections. The Home Office consulted the public about this in 2003. Our response to this consultation can be accessed via:
  Charity Commission Response to Public Charitable Collections

Joint Committee on the Draft Charities Bill

• The publication by the Joint Committee on the Charities Bill
  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt/jtchar.htm

• The Government’s response to the recommendations made by the Joint Committee on the Charities Bill
  www.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm64/6440/6440.pdf

The Commission produced a number of submissions for the Scrutiny Committee. These can be viewed using the links below.

• Charity Commission - The Future
• The Costs Of The Bill For The Charity Commission
• The Charity Commission, Public Benefit And The Effect Of The Proposed Legislation
• The Charity Commission, Public Benefit And Public Benefit Checks
• The Charity Commission’s Analysis Of The Effect Of Two Clauses Suggested By Christopher McCall QC
• Fee Charging Charities
• Written Evidence for the Joint Committee on the Draft Charities Bill

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