Membership-based Charity Organisations

Angus MacDonald Excerpts

Wednesday 17th December 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg, for the third time this afternoon—I enjoy your company so much. You are kind and patient as a Chair—thank you very much.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) on securing us the opportunity to sow into this debate. She made an excellent speech and presentation. I learnt something from her—I always do, of course—and I have a better idea of her ask of the Minister. It is also a pleasure to see the Minister in her place. I thank her for all her hard work and all the answers she has given us over the past year in her role.

When we bear in mind that some of the UK’s most well-known charities are member-based charitable organisations, it is clear why we must ask, and ensure that, the Government work alongside such organisations that offer so much to our communities. The hon. Member for Gosport clearly outlined the issue. I am a member of the National Trust and the British Legion, and a past member of the Scouts—those are the three I would be aware of. The point I am making is that those are partnerships that I believe the Government can work better with, although I think the Minister recognises the good work that the organisations do. The hon. Lady for Gosport referred to English Heritage, and its work on houses, land, and preserving our history and our culture. All those things are incredibly important. All such British institutions operate from a charitable position, to effect change in individual and community lives.

I am going to give a wee bit of information about the National Trust in Northern Ireland and what it does, just as an example. Such organisations do not simply stand in shopping centres shaking a tin at passers-by; they are more than that. They are intricately involved in the lives of constituents, their aim to enhance those lives effectively throughout the Province and the United Kingdom as a whole. The National Trust, for example, provides employment for some 500 people across Northern Ireland in all the estates, lands and places that it looks after.

I think right away of the incomparable Mount Stewart in Strangford. It is definitely—not just because it is in my constituency—the jewel in the crown of the National Trust. It is the gateway to the Ards peninsula, where the National Trust has other places such as Kearney in Portaferry and Saintfield, where the headquarters are. It also has places further down, across Northern Ireland, and right over as far as Enniskillen in the west of the Province.

Mount Stewart has one of UNESCO’s top 10 gardens in the world. That does not happen just by clicking fingers and seeing how it grows; it happens because the volunteers—the workers—work hard in the gardens. That is why Mount Stewart is so well renowned: the hard work that individuals put in to plant the trees and preserve the gardens. The volunteers have also undertaken projects such as rewetting peatlands and planting native trees to help absorb carbon emissions, build climate resilience and protect the surrounding landscape from flooding. Those are all things that have been done by the National Trust, by volunteers and by contributions from individuals.

The trust has planted hundreds of thousands of trees in Northern Ireland, with a goal of establishing half a million trees by 2030. That is not that far away. That goal will help this great nation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to be good stewards of our planet and our environment. The trust works towards our environmental goals, which must be welcomed. Those are all things that the Government and the Minister want to see achieved as well. We should work together to make them happen.

The trust seeks to educate, to inform and to involve all who come. It is about not simply preserving the past, although that is incredibly important, but protecting the future. I always think that what we have today is in trust for those who come after. What the National Trust and others do is important because of that. All within the charitable confines help the Government to achieve their aims without the need for Government control or Government responsibility. It is one of those win-wins for the Minister and for Government.

Clearly, organisations such as the National Trust and the British Legion—just two—are foundational ones in the United Kingdom. Their relationship with Government is a two-way street, one that works well when both work well together.

[Mr Angus MacDonald (Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Member for allowing me to intervene. I wonder if the Minister would consider the following. I was the vice-president of the National Trust for Scotland for the majority of 10 years and I know the senior management there very well. They have been extremely hurt by the national insurance increase, particularly on people who do part—

[Derek Twigg (in the Chair)]

Order. It is an intervention on the Member, not the Minister.

[Mr MacDonald]

Yes—sorry. Does the hon. Member agree that when the Government introduce legislation on, for example, national insurance and people doing part-time work, and now this gift aid issue, they should consider charities as separate organisations?

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. The knowledge that he has developed over the years is an important addition to this debate. I know that the Minister is listening when we make our asks, as the hon. Member for Gosport has done and as I will do now.

The service that these organisations provide needs the support that the Government can give, from charitable taxation to gift aid facility. However, there now seems to be a question mark over how gift aid will work. I seek clarification about how the Government can ensure that it continues in some way, so that charities can enjoy the advantages it brings. I did not know the figures involved, which the hon. Member for Gosport referred to. The gift aid facility gives massive help to charities, but I never knew that the amount raised was anywhere near the amount that she mentioned in relation to charitable taxation.

Such support by Government is essential to allow these charities to operate and to make a difference, so it must be enhanced. I understand the need for transparency and openness, and I agree with Government scrutiny when that is necessary. Such scrutiny must continue. However, we must always be aware that for every penny lost in tax, so much more is gained in local economies making an investment, which is a worthwhile investment.

As the reach of these organisations extends so far, it is wonderful for us to work in a mutually beneficial partnership. I ask the Minister for assurances that the work carried out in the charitable and voluntary sector will be fostered, supported and encouraged by Government. If that happens, the concerns of the hon. Member for Gosport, of the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Mr MacDonald), and indeed of all of us who are here today can be alleviated in some way. We look forward to hearing the Minister’s response to the debate.