Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance the Government provides to membership-based charities to ensure compliance with charity law where benefits are restricted to members.

All charities in England and Wales must have wholly charitable purposes that are for the public benefit, in order to enjoy the advantages of charitable status. Unless the purpose is for the relief (and in some cases the prevention) of poverty, a charitable purpose cannot exist for the benefit of an organisation’s members only. The exception to this is if a sufficient section of the public can access those benefits by becoming members and the membership is a suitable way of carrying out the charity’s purpose for the public benefit.

The Charity Commission has published guidance which explains the public benefit requirement.

The honourable member may be aware that Membership-based Charity Organisations was debated on Wednesday 17th December in Westminster Hall.