§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ LORD STANMOREMy Lords, in Scotland, as in England, there are a number of war charities which now find themselves in possession of funds which cannot be applied to the objects for which they were subscribed—such as funds, for instance, for 674 sending parcels to prisoners of war. In England in such cases I understand that the Charity Commissioners have powers which enable the difficulty to be got over, but in Scotland there appear to be no means of obtaining authority to devote the funds to other objects except by application to the Court of Session, which is an expensive method and altogether disproportionate to the funds involved. This small Bill, therefore, proposes that the governing body of the charity in such a case may, with the sanction of the Local Government Board for Scotland—which exercises in that country the same functions as the Charity Commissioners under the Charities Act of 1916—make provision for the application of the funds to objects similar to the original or other suitable purposes. I beg to move.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.— (Lord Stanmore.)
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.