§ 11.42 a.m.
§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos)My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
Moved, That it is expedient that a Joint Committee of Lords and Commons be appointed to consider and report on any draft Charities Bill presented to both Houses by a Minister of the Crown, and that the committee should report on the draft Bill by 30 September 2004.—(Baroness Amos.)
Lord RentonMy Lords, I welcome the appointment of a Joint Committee of both Houses to consider any Charities Bill, bearing in mind that Charities Bills are nearly always above party differences, but why must we wait until 30 December for the proposed Joint Committee to report on a Bill that is already available in draft? Would it not be more suitable to encourage the Joint Committee to report by, say, 30 June? Then we could make good progress with it in this Session.
§ Baroness AmosMy Lords, as I understand it, the draft Bill is expected to be published in mid-May. We have asked the Joint Committee to report by 30 September.
On Question, Motion agreed to; and a message was ordered to be sent to the Commons to acquaint them therewith.