The House of Lords has confirmed the appointment of a Select Committee on Charities and confirmed that it is due to report by 31 March 2017.

The motion to appoint a Select Committee on Charities was passed by the House of Lords yesterday, and Baroness Jill Pitkeathley was confirmed as the chair.

The committee includes several lords with experience as charity chief executives, as well as Lord Harries of Pentregarth, who led Acevo's campaign against the Lobbying Act.

The committee has been tasked with investigating issues relating to: “sustaining the charity sector and the challenges of charity governance”. The committee will be issuing a ‘call for evidence’ in the summer and will be inviting people and organisations within the sector to express an interest in the process.

Chris Walker, senior external relations officer at NCVO, speaking about the proposed creation of the committee in a Civil Society News story last week, said: “Its creation presents a useful opportunity to look at the issues concerning governance and public perception around the charity sector.

“The members of the committee mentioned have a good mixture of experience, both of sitting on similar committees within the Lords but also of the wider charity sector. We expect them to do a serious and thorough job.”

The confirmed members of the committee are:

• Baroness Barker
• Lord Bichard
• Lord Chadlington
• Lord Foulkes of Cumnock
• Baroness Gale
• Lord Harries of Pentregarth
• Baroness Jenkin of Kennington
• Lord Lupton
• Baroness Pitkeathley (chair)
• Lord Rooker
• Baroness Scott of Needham Market
• Baroness Stedman-Scott