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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase the diversity of charity trustees.

In the Civil Society Strategy (‘the Strategy’) the government committed to work with civil society stakeholders and the Charity Commission to explore and agree on collective action to open up trusteeship to people from different backgrounds. Since the Strategy publication we have been holding exploratory conversations with stakeholders, including the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Charity Commission. These conversations are helping to improve understanding of the opportunities and challenges around enabling people from different backgrounds to become involved in trusteeship. There is no quick fix and the solutions will take time to develop and have impact. Taking this forward is a top priority for me.