The government has today announced its intention to introduce a Small Charitable Donations Bill to simplify the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.
The scheme was introduced in 2013 to enable ‘top-up’ gift aid-style payments for small cash donations, even if they are not accompanied by the normal paperwork, but has raised far less for charities than was originally intended.
Latest figures suggest that it raised £21m in 2014/15 – far less than then £135m the government had expected the scheme to be raising by 2015.
Documents published to accompany the Queen’s Speech this morning say that the aim of the bill is to make the relief “easier to claim, to allow more charities to benefit”.
The bill also aims to provide “greater support for grassroots community charities” and allow “groups who normally operate from a community building to benefit from a top-up to donations collected away from that building”.
Since the Gift Aid Small Donation Scheme was introduced it has been frequently criticised by sector bodies for being overly complex and discouraging small charities from claiming.
A consultation into the scheme was launched in April and the government says that responses to this will feed in to the Bill.
Andrew O’Brien, head of policy and engagement at the Charity Finance Group, said: “It is good to see that the government has listened to the sector and recognised the need to get on with reforming the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.
“The devil will be in the detail, but the focus on making the scheme easier to claim and, more importantly, opening it up to new charities is particularly welcome.”
Charlotte Ravenscroft, head of policy and public services at NCVO, said: “The small donations scheme is a great idea that’s been sadly hampered by restrictive eligibility rules. We want to see the scheme made far more accessible to small and medium-sized charities by reducing the requirement to have claimed gift aid in several preceding years and removing the ‘matching rule’ that unfairly limits the generosity of the scheme for some charities.”
John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “The inclusion of a Small Charitable Donations Bill could be good news for charities, particularly for smaller organisations which have often struggled to unlock the benefits of gift aid. This provides a real opportunity to simplify the scheme and make it fit for the 21st century.”
Other measures
Other measures in today’s announcement include a bill to tackle extremism and plans to introduce a British Bill of Rights.
The Counter-Extremism and Safeguarding Bill, which aims to prevent organisations, including charities, being infiltrated by extremists.
The government also confirmed plans to introduce a British Bill of Rights, to replace the Human Rights Act.
A new coalition of over 100 campaigning organisations, including Amnesty International and Liberty, this morning warned the government not to replace the Human Rights Act.
The government said it will consult widely before reforming human rights legislation in the UK.
