UPDATED INFORMATION FOR CHAPTER 41:
VOLUNTARY SECTOR LEGAL HANDBOOK
This page contains information that has appeared on Sandy Adirondack's legal update website for voluntary organisations at www.sandy-a.co.uk/legal.htm. For current updates, including potential changes that are in the pipeline, see the legal update website.
These websites for each chapter update
the 2nd edition of The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook by Sandy Adirondack and James Sinclair Taylor (Directory of Social Change, 2001). The websites are not intended as a comprehensive update and should not be treated as such.
To order a copy of The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook, print out the order form at www.sandy-a.co.uk/bookserv.htm or send an email order by clicking
. It costs £50 for voluntary organisations or £80 for others, plus 10% p&p. We expect the third edition to be published in 2007.
The information here covers the law applicable to England and Wales. It may not apply in Northern Ireland and/or Scotland. These news items are not a full or definitive statement of the law and are not intended as a substitute for professional legal advice. No responsibility for loss occasioned as a result of any person acting or refraining from acting can be taken by the author.
Chapter 41
CAMPAIGNING AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
CAMPAIGNING UPDATE
Updated 29/7/07. This information updates chapter 41 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
The Charity Commission announced on 26 July 2007 that it would review CC9 Political activities and campaigning by charities in the autumn, as part of the government's third sector review. This follows publication on 3 April 2007 of a supplement to CC9,with questions and answers reassuring charities about the types of campaigning and political activities they can undertake. This starts with the unambiguous statement "We recognise that political campaigning is an entirely legitimate activity for a charity", then summarises the limits on what charities can do. The emphasis is on what they can do — not on what they can't do, as in previous guidance.
CC9 is at www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc9.asp and the supplement can be accessed via tinyurl.com/yq83rb.
The (unofficial) report by the Advisory Group on Campaigning and the Voluntary Sector, chaired by Dame Helena Kennedy, was published on 23 May 2007. This recommends that charities should be able to engage exclusively in political campaigning in furtherance of their charitable purposes, provided they do not support political parties. The group also recommends repeal of the disproportionate (their word — I would use draconian and outrageous, but then I did used to be coordinator of the Campaign Against Arms Trade) restrictions on protest and demonstrations in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005; amendment of policing procedures and codes of practice to ensure police respect freedom of assembly and expression; and repeal of the Communications Act 2003 ban on all broadcast advertising by "political" organisations.
The report is at www.bateswells.co.uk/Files/News/CampaigningReport.doc, with the recommendations on pp.5-6.
REVISED GUIDANCE ON POLITICAL ACTIVITIES AND CAMPAIGNING
Updated 5/4/05. This information updates s.41.3 in The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook 2nd edition.
Following consultation with the sector, the Charity Commission's revised guidelines on campaigning and other non-party political activities were issued on 1 October 2004. The basic rules have not changed but the new guidelines are less cautionary, and place more emphasis on what charities can do. The CC9 guidelines are at www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc9.asp.
Guidelines specifically on what charities can and cannot do during the run-up to an election were issued by the Charity Commission on 5 April 2005. They are at www.charitycommission.gov.uk/supportingcharities/elect.asp, and should be read in conjunction with CC9.
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