Report finds charities are becoming admin-heavy for fear of falling foul of Lobbying Act

Resources are being squandered by charities trying to comply with the controversial Lobbying Act, an nfpSynergy report has found.

Charities are so concerned with breaching the law they are making substantial changes to their working practices with some spending copious amounts of time on administering compliance.

The Act, passed last year, requires charities in Scotland which expect to spend more than £10,000 on political campaigning (£20,000 in England) to register with the Electoral Commission

NfpSynergy’s report found that charities were uncertain about the interpretation of the Act, which they felt to be very vague, but were also extremely reluctant to become a test case for the new legislation.

“Many people we spoke to felt that the drain on resources was the biggest impact of the Lobbying Act on their organisation,” the report said.

The drain on resources was the biggest impact of the Lobbying Act on their organisation

“Coming to grips with this legislation has cost them money (in the form of fees paid for legal advice) and staff time (interpreting the legislation, attending meetings with other organisations, conferring with the Electoral Commission, writing internal guidance and disseminating it throughout the organisation), both of which would have otherwise been used to further the organisation’s charitable goals.”

The report said that the Electoral Commission should take two steps to help charities: redefine the “purpose test” which explains what charities must intend to do before they are caught by the act, and take steps to proactively reassure small charities.

“NfpSynergy’s long-term monitoring of charity brands tells us that if there is a test case, the charity in question is likely to suffer reputational damage by being branded "political", which may continue for several years,” the report concluded.