Charities Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 56:"Page 106, line 31, at end insert ““or at the expiration of six months from receipt by the Charity Commission of the resolution””" The noble Lord said: This concerns Section 69L of Schedule 6 and remains with the issue of CIOs. This section details the measures that a CIO must undertake when it resolves to transfer all its property, rights and liabilities to another CIO. Subsection (5) explains that such a resolution"““shall not take effect until confirmed by the Commission””." Amendment 56 adds to that the words,"““or at the expiration of six months from receipt by the Charity Commission of the resolution””." This is a straightforward amendment intended to prevent unnecessary delays by the commission. The commission’s powers and responsibilities have been significantly increased by the provisions of the Bill, as we have said many times. The amendment imposes a very generous time-frame in which the commission must opine. The commission should be open to the levels of transparency and accountability to which other regulatory bodies adhere. No one can argue that this is an unreasonable imposition on the Commission, it is merely a safeguard to ensure that charity law operates reasonably expeditiously and to ensure that all CIOs are treated in a fair and balanced manner. Administrative delay by the Charity Commission could undermine an appropriate transfer and this safeguard allowing for the transfer to proceed after a specified time is desirable. I beg to move.