Member

Turning to the charitable sector, which is also included within this amendment, I thank the many noble Lords who slightly jumped the gun and started talking about charitable organisations on previous groups. I thank them for their support in spirit for this. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that the increase will cost charities £1.4 billion in 2025-26 alone, which will force them to draw on surplus, lower salaries or reduce services. Having worked in the charitable sector, like many others here, I know that the responsibility to maintain a level of workable surplus is essential to good charity governance and the future development of services, but that will be unaffordable with such significant losses. While the Government have committed to reimbursing the public sector, they have not done the same for the charity sector, which is a vital partner in public service delivery.