§ Lord Cocks of Hartcliffeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Charity Commission will make available to the members of both Houses of Parliament a full report of the inquiry into the Scarman Trust (formerly the Charter 88 Trust), for consideration in connection with issues of constitutional reform.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)The Charity Commission does not normally prepare formal reports of its inquiries, and has not done so in this case.
The findings of the commission's inquiry, with which the trustees fully co-operated, were that there was not always a clear distinction between the trust's work and that of other organisations, illustrated by the fact that the report The Untouchables referred to in Lord Inglewood's reply to the noble Lord on 15 October 1996 (WA 213) had been incorrectly ascribed to the trust.
The commission will now work closely with the trust to ensure that any necessary changes to its structure take place. It will also examine carefully the trust's publications in the near future to ensure that they do not overstep the bounds of what is permissible for a charity.