HC Deb 09 June 2003 vol 406 c663W
Brian Cotter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on measures that his Department has put in place to ease the administrative burden on charities. [117275]

Beverley Hughes

The Government are committed to removing unnecessary administrative burdens and legal restrictions on charities. We undertook to implement a package of measures to that end, by means of a Regulatory Reform Order (RRO). The need for an RRO has now been overtaken by the review undertaken by the Strategy Unit (SU) 'Private Action, Public Benefit'. We expect to announce our response to the consultation on the SU Report in the summer. We announced in February this year that a Charities Bill would be prepared and published in draft as soon as practicable. The reforms originally proposed for inclusion in the RRO will be considered for inclusion in a Charities Bill.