Campaign launched to update laws

A group of UK charities including the NSPCC and Amnesty
International have launched a campaign to reform the 400-year-old
English law defining what a charity is.

Speaking at the annual National Council for Voluntary
Organisations conference in London, chief executive Stuart
Etherington renewed calls for a new public benefit test for
charities, which was proposed by the government’s strategy
unit last year.

He said: “The Charities Bill Coalition believes it is essential,
in the interest of preserving public confidence in the voluntary
sector, that the legal definition of charity is simplified to make
it much clearer on what basis charitable status is awarded.” He
said the coalition wanted to see a new charity bill included in the
next Queen’s speech.