§ Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to amend the law governing charities so as to give the Charity Commission power to take action against a charity operating contrary to the law.
§ Mr. HurdCharities are subject to the criminal law in the normal way. In addition, the Charity Commission has powers under sections 6 and 20 of the Charities Act 1960 to investigate any charity and where necessary take action to protect its property. The Government have accepted that the commission's powers for dealing with abuse should be strengthened in line with the recommendations of the Woodfield report, and will introduce legislation accordingly.
§ Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to amend the law governing charities to ensure that greater importance is attached to the methods by which the charity fulfils its objects.
Number of classes Average number of inmates in each class Total number of class hours Day Evening Birmingham 33 0 8.3 66 Leeds 75 36 7.2 222 Pentonville 64 33 6.5 193 Manchester 44 15 7.6 109 Wandsworth 47 49 7.8 209.5 Wormwood Scrubs 21 39 8.3 120 Holloway 1102 20 8.6 244 1 Figure includes vocational training. As the Government's recent reply to the second report from the Select Committee on Education, Science and Arts on prison education makes clear, very positive efforts are being made to improve both the quantity and the quality of education in Prison Department establishments. The figures for a small selection of prisons, including some of our most overcrowded local establishments, should not be regarded as representative. At Birmingham, for instance,
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§ Mr. HurdTrustees are under a clear obligation to ensure that the method by which a charity fulfils its objects are within the law. Action can be taken against a charity wherever there is evidence that its activities are not in the public interest.
§ Mr. LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to ensure persons with convictions for dishonesty are not permitted to become charitable trustees.
§ Mr. HurdOne of the recommendations of the Woodfield report is that provision should be made that no person should, without the permission in writing of the commissioners, act as the trustee of a charity if they have been convicted of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty. The Government intend to introduce legislation to implement the Woodfield report's recommendations before the end of the life of this Parliament.