The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has said it will “ignore” the Lobbying Act and not register with the Electoral Commission, calling the Act a “direct attack on charities' right to campaign”.
Felix Spittal, a policy officer at the SCVO, wrote in a blog post on the umbrella body’s website that “charities will not be pushed out of politics”, and that it would not comply with the rules on campaigning that the law sets out by registering as a non-party campaigner with the Electoral Commission.
John Downie, director of public affairs at SCVO, clarified the organisation's position to Civil Society News.
He said: "Our board looked at the conditions of the tests and took the decision that SCVO would not alter any of its plans to comply with them.
“The Lobbying Act is yet another attempt to silence charities and prevent us from giving a strong voice to the most vulnerable people in our communities, and criticising and opposing government policy. We simply won't stand for it."
Spittal argued that the Act was unnecessary as “charities know they have to steer clear of party politics, and the sector appreciates the negative consequences of crossing that line”.
He added: “Why would you risk alienating many of your members, funders or staff by associating your organisation with a political party?”
SCVO’s approach differs from the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), which said it had concluded that it did not need to register with the Electoral Commission as it would not meet the conditions according to the public and purpose tests, which address whether a campaign could be seen to influence voters.
In a blog post Karl Wilding, director of public policy at NCVO, said that “registering with the Electoral Commission is, in itself, not a bad thing; it’s just that we have concluded it is not necessary for NCVO to register”.
So far only five charities have registered as non-party campaigners with the Electoral Commission. These are: RSPCA Campaigns Ltd (a campaigning body set up by the RSPCA to run its campaigns during the election period), Stonewall Equality Ltd, the Woodland Trust, League Against Cruel Sports and cholesterol charity Heart UK.
In Scotland, charities who want to spend more than £10,000 on campaigning activities in the run-up to the May general election must register as a non-party campaigner with the Electoral Commission. The threshold is £20,000 in England, and £10,000 in the rest of the UK.
A feature on the practical implications of the Lobbying Act will appear in next month's Charity Finance. Click here to become a subscriber.
