Charitable and Voluntary Sector

Lord Wei Excerpts

Thursday 30th April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wei (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for tabling this debate and refer to my own entry in the register of interests. I echo the sentiments of other speakers in congratulating the Government on the great start in terms of support for charities that has been initiated. But, clearly, we live in extraordinary times and more measures are needed. Will my noble friend the Minister consider a number of proposals that could help, in the short, medium and long term, many charities to survive and get through this crisis?

First, is it possible in the coming period to relax some of the furlough rules so that more workers generally as well as in charities can start to work a number of days, perhaps on condition that they give up some of their time to help, volunteer and fundraise for their local charities?

Secondly, there is an opportunity for the Government to impose windfall taxes on certain industries and businesses that are clearly doing very well out of this crisis. Could some of that earned tax be distributed back to charities in the form of an emergency gift aid increase, perhaps time-limited, to encourage, on top of all the generosity we have seen so far, more of the public to give at this time of year, certainly before the winter?

Finally—and I have spoken in other debates about this—I see a real opportunity for the Competition and Markets Authority to be much more aggressive in tackling monopolistic behaviour. Could the fines that it imposes be given to charities, taking into account any good behaviour on the part of many businesses that we have seen during this pandemic to help the public? Charities need support and we need special measures. What measures are being taken to enable charities to survive and thrive in the future?