HC Deb 24 April 1940 vol 360 cc215-6
Mr. McEntee

asked the hon. Member for Swansea, West, as representing the Charity Commissioners, how many charity trusts are now registered; and what is the aggregate sum guaranteed by these charity trusts to charities in Great Britain?

Mr. Lewis Jones

(CHARITY COMMISSIONER): With the exception of charities required to be registered under the War Charities Act, 1916, and the Blind Persons Act, 1920, there is no legal provision requiring charities to be registered with the Charity Commissioners, and the Charity Commissioners have no register of charities except those kept by them under the Acts mentioned. If the term "charity trusts" is intended to refer to trusts or other arrangements under which a person undertakes to make voluntary, subscriptions or donations to a charity during a specified period, the Charity Commissioners have no information to show how many such trusts or arrangements are in existence.

Mr. McEntee

Will steps be taken to compile a register, in view of the absolute necessity that some guarantee may be given to the public that these trusts are run as they should be run under the law instead of, as they are being run in some cases, outside the law?

Mr. Lewis Jones

I shall consult my fellow Commissioners on the suggestion made by the hon. Member.