There is always someone worse off than us and so we are encouraged to give to those organisations who are trying to help the disadvantaged. Some of them are funded by public and corporate donations; others rely on government and similar funding to provide contracted help in their chosen sector.

The last few years have been a period of austerity and cutbacks. Many aspects of our lives have been affected, including the amount of cash that we have to support good causes. The government has threatened, but so far backed off from, changes to the tax legislation that would make charitable giving less attractive, particularly for the higher-rate tax payer. The argument is that such giving is a tax-led action; let me assure the Chancellor that this is nonsense – if someone is genuinely helping those in need, a small tax benefit is a great encouragement.

Simplifying the system of giving
The government seems suspicious of the motives of those setting up charities as well as those donating to them. The 2006 Charities Act changed the rules for creating a new charitable entity but left in place the Charity Commission as the sector regulator, only to criticise it heavily in the last few years for being too feeble in its investigation of certain organisations that it has claimed registered charities solely to exploit tax loopholes. There will always be the odd bad apple in any basket, but let’s not make everyone else’s lives impossible as a result.

I knew from my dealings with a number of local charities that the sector had lost significant sums of funding from government sources in the last few years. I was staggered to read recently that the rate of reduction was in the order of £1 billion a year!

But all is not bad. The government has simplified Gift Aid declarations, facilitated online claims for Gift Aid and allowed charities to claim under that scheme for small, unidentified donations. Long may it, and our support of the sector, continue.