Consultation responses

Introduction SCVO welcomes the opportunity to respond to this important inquiry by the European and External Relations Committee. Our comments will focus on the operation of the Human Rights Act (HRA) and the proposed British Bill of Rights. It will also examine the need for more... Read more

Introduction As Scotland prepares for the devolution of social security and employment powers, the third sector welcomes the chance to influence and shape this process, bringing to the fore the voice of the people it supports, whose lives will be affected by the changes to come... Read more

General Concerns On reading the consultation, our overwhelming impression is that the creation of regulations and guidance, along with the ongoing running of the Fund, is focussed on administrative convenience rather than the needs of applicants. The focus seems to be on... Read more

Introduction As there have been no substantive changes made to the clauses from draft to Bill, the concerns SCVO outlined in our previous response to the Committee remain. These fall broadly into three categories: the need for Gift Aid to be considered alongside the devolution of... Read more

Our response Question 1 – Do you agree that the Government’s three core principles are appropriate to inform the delivery of an effective and proportionate lobbying registration regime in Scotland? The core principles described are largely successful in defining what the... Read more

Section A: Draft Guidance as a whole Question 1: Are you able to find your way around the draft Guidance? The guidance is generally easy to navigate, both in the PDF and the online version. The introduction of a web specific version is welcome as it is more navigable on mobile... Read more

Introduction With the recent introduction of the Scottish Government’s new economic strategy and fair work agenda, now is an opportune time to ensure that procurement is used to tackle poverty and inequality. As we said in our paper An Economy for All, there are four principles... Read more

The Impact of Welfare Reform Welfare reform exacerbates ingrained inequalities across a range of groups – combined with austerity and public service cuts, women have been deeply affected. Yet, gender remains largely absent from policy responses to welfare reform. As outlined by... Read more

Tax Gift Aid is a relief on income tax that benefits charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASCs); last year Gift Aid provided over £1 billion to the sector in the UK. Although the issue of Gift Aid is not covered in the draft clauses, income tax is. Therefore Gift Aid is... Read more

Introduction The ownership and use of land are important to the third sector and the people we work with in a number of different ways. For example, land is fundamental to tackling the current problem with the availability of affordable housing for rural and urban communities... Read more