NHS (Charitable Trusts Etc.) Bill

Kit Malthouse Excerpts

Friday 6th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Morton]

The charity continues to receive royalties. In fact, there are many productions of “Peter Pan” around the country in the run-up to Christmas, and the charity continues to receive royalties or agreed donations when such productions are performed. We must ensure that the charity continues to get those royalties, which makes the Bill even more important.

J.M. Barrie donated all rights in “Peter Pan” to Great Ormond Street hospital in 1929. He died in 1937, but the hospital enjoyed a further 50 years of royalties. On the eve of the copyright expiring, the J.M. Barrie bequest acquired its unique legal status, as a direct result of Lord Callaghan’s amendments to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which ensured that, despite the copyright in the work expiring on 31 December 1987, the special trustees for Great Ormond Street hospital would have the rights to royalties in respect of all commercial publications or public performances of “Peter Pan” and would hold them on trust for the purposes of Great Ormond Street hospital. The relevant provisions are found in section 301 of and schedule 6 to that Act.

The royalties are now held in perpetuity, so J.M. Barrie’s generous gift will continue to benefit very sick children and their families for as long as the hospital exists. My Bill seeks to support the continued legacy of this great children’s author from Kirriemuir in Scotland. I do not know whether any Member present in the House today has heritage or roots in Scotland, but there is certainly a link back to north of the border.

[Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)]

I am very supportive of the Bill. Does my hon. Friend think that the move by hospital charities to more independent status without Government appointment makes it more likely that other significant authors of children’s books will see value in such bequests? She will know that there is a Scottish author who has made hundreds of millions of pounds from children’s books and may be more likely to bequeath some of her royalties to charities. The measure might make influential authors such as Julia Donaldson—I understand that £1 in every £5 spent on children’s books in the UK is spent on a Julia Donaldson book—generous towards hospital charities in the way that J. M. Barrie was.

[Wendy Morton]

Let us hope so. Many artists and authors around the country have preferred charities to which they donate and give their royalties, but by highlighting the work of J. M. Barrie and Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital Charity the measure may, fingers crossed, lead to more of them doing so.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I was confusing my authors of children’s literature. I got “Winnie-the-Pooh” right; I was just attributing it to the wrong man. I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that correction. So I do not have an interest to declare. I must de-declare my interest in relation to the topic on which I was talking.

Leaving such a legacy is a wonderfully generous thing to do, along with the flexibility in allowing the copyright law to be adapted so that one play can provide resources for a hospital, where the two come together. We all know the story very well. The childhood story of Peter Pan, ever-youthful—Madam Deputy Speaker, as I look at you, I see the ever-youthful Deputy Speaker—is a great one to combine with a children’s hospital, which is there to care for children at their weakest time, not just those from London, but those from across the country, as we have heard.

[Kit Malthouse]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. I wonder whether he supports legislation that would automatically extend the copyright of written works when donated for charitable purposes. I referred earlier to various authors, particularly children’s authors, who may now consider with greater likelihood leaving their copyright to hospitals and the like after their deaths. If they knew that the copyright would be automatically extended for the charity’s benefit, it might encourage even more of them to do so. Does he agree?

--- Later in debate ---

[Antoinette Sandbach]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. One important step being taken by Alder Hey is in ground-breaking research, and the charity allows it to get funding that will help in those aims.

The new facilities at Alder Hey are extraordinary, designed in part by former child patients. A group of children aged 10 to 22 who had stayed in the hospital contributed towards the design of the new Alder Hey in the Park. I invite Members from across the House to consider visiting the hospital to see the invaluable work that it does. As my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills said, funding from NHS charities contributes to innovation and research.

[Kit Malthouse]

Perhaps I should declare an interest. I was born in Alder Hey hospital and had a myringotomy there when I was eight—a surgical procedure where the eardrum is taken out to drain excess fluid. Grommets are now used instead.

On independence, one thing that is critical to the success of charities is the tax relief that they attract, which is a serious incentive for donors. Does my hon. Friend agree that if a charity has its trustees appointed by the Secretary of State and is working closely with, in effect, an organ of the state, an NHS hospital, there might be some question about whether that charity should be entitled to tax relief, given that it is effectively part of the state, and that the move to greater independence is likely to make any challenge to that status recede?

[Antoinette Sandbach]

Indeed. My hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset made a similar point. It is important that that independence is seen, is effective and is understood in the public domain. Sadly, there are some examples of NHS charities that are deeply influenced by their boards and are not seen to be independent in the way that my hon. Friends described.

Some £2 billion worth of assets are under the control of NHS charities and there is a combined annual income of about £30 million. These are significant sums which, as has been pointed out, are intended for the benefit of patients, and should not go into administration and the endless accounts and tick box exercises that are required if two parallel charities are run side by side. The Charities Commission has great expertise in the oversight of charities and in ensuring that charities’ income goes to the appropriate causes for which they were set up.

My hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills made an important point about the unlimited liability of charitable trustees, which is a very big personal risk. If anything goes wrong, such as some awful fraud, charitable trustees with unlimited liability have personal liability and could lose their homes and everything they own. As a result, some people are unwilling to become trustees of such charities. My hon. Friend’s Bill allows some protection, if trusts choose to have it, giving trustees limited liability. That is likely to broaden the range of people prepared to take on these roles.

It has been noted that this is trustees week, and a constituent of mine, Jeannie France-Hayhurst, is a trustee of the Alder Hey charity who provides a great deal of service. I know that she would encourage and would want others to encourage people from a wide range of backgrounds and a broad range of experience to get involved in their local charities.

In my constituency, Eddisbury, we have two good examples of local charities. One is the Tarporley War Memorial hospital, which was set up many years ago. It is independent of the NHS and is entirely funded by the community through charitable fundraising and charitable giving. That is exactly the type of activity that my hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset was talking about, allowing communities to come together and work to deliver services in their area. The hospital specialises in the rehabilitation of the elderly, intermediate care and palliative care. It has 17 beds and is extremely well supported in my constituency. There is a wonderful double-decker bus that drives around with vintage clothing for sale. The bus parks in towns and villages in my constituency on a set day every week—in effect, a mobile shop to which members of the public can come. It is a wonderful sight and is entirely staffed by volunteers, like much of the other fundraising that goes on to support Tarporley War Memorial hospital. It is a great example of an independent charity that can support the delivery of NHS functions.

The hospital is used by local GPs to provide clinics closer to those who need their services. Staff from the local hospitals, such as the Leighton hospital and the Countess of Chester hospital, can travel to Tarporley War Memorial hospital and provide outreach services such as maternity services, dressings clinics and minor injuries treatment. It is a great example of how an independent charity can stand on its own two feet and provide great support and services to the local community.

The other charity in my constituency which exemplifies that is St Luke’s hospice, which is based in Winsford. It describes itself as a small hospice with a big heart, and I can vouch for that. It, too, is looking at ways of extending the palliative care that it provides and broadening the services that it delivers in the local community. It has fantastic outreach services which support those who are frail, those with failing health, those who are ageing, dying or grieving, and those who have dementia. It has broadened its remit from palliative care and is looking at how it can deliver services closer to constituents’ homes. I commend the hospice for its work. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Graham Evans), who is not here today, has fundraised extensively to support St Luke’s hospice, as have many other neighbouring Members of Parliament who know the invaluable service that it delivers locally.