Draft Small Charitable Donations Act (Amendment) Order 2019

Lord Mann Excerpts

Tuesday 12th February 2019 General Committees

[John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

I will not be abstaining on the instrument; I will be supporting it on behalf of the charities in my constituency, where there are a lot of small charities. This is a minor but eminently sensible proposal by the Government, which will be welcomed by the many small charities in my constituency.

Former coalfield communities do not have large charities and large organisations; they have small charities and small organisations. It might interest the Minister to know that the one large charity supported in my constituency is Help for Heroes. Bassetlaw is not the wealthiest part of the country, but it is the highest per capita contributor to that charity in the entire country. That also goes for small charities—for example, the local mosque, which is the first in Bassetlaw. It was formed by a charity and I supported its establishment. There were some difficulties with extreme elements in the local community. Raising the £200,000 needed to establish the mosque requires a lot of small charitable donations.

The extra 25% that can be gleaned—I appreciate that it is only up to £8,000 annually for small charities—can make a significant difference to churches and to those who have set up small charities, which is particularly common in my area. An example is when a child has died in tragic circumstances and the family has set up a charity. That is a common tradition in mining communities, and it is a fine one. These charities are tiny and make a small but important impact. The fact that they can go that bit further—not least through the use of contactless donations, which has spread rapidly to areas such as mine—is to be welcomed. I fully endorse the Government bringing this measure forward. This is common sense, and I hope that Labour Members will support it rather than abstain.