The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. Please see the attached letter from Helen Stephenson, CBE, Chief Executive Officer, Charity Commission for England and Wales.

The cheek of the hon. Gentleman! We did all hard work on the Commonwealth games, along with Mayor Andy Street. It was announced formally at 9.30 this morning in Birmingham. I was pleased to sign the host city contract and I am pleased that we will hold the Commonwealth games in 2022. Obviously, the hon. Gentleman’s constituency will benefit from that, as will we all. Turning to the substance of his question, the Secretary of State and I are not unsympathetic to the points he made.

The Government has a long term plan and strategy to make sure that the sector is supported. Given the sector’s diversity, we recognise that there could be a broad range of implications and we are carefully assessing the impact of leaving the EU on the voluntary and community sector. We are also continuing to gather information and listen to the concerns and priorities of the charity sector.

Supporting a modern and resilient charity sector has been a priority for the Government. Over this and the last parliament we have worked together with charities to create greater financial sustainability, grow the social economy and support robust governance. This places charities in a strong position to respond to any changes resulting from the decision of the UK to leave the EU. We will continue to work closely with charities to understand the potential impact on their funding and operations which will depend on the specific arrangements agreed for exiting the EU.

Since the outcome of the EU referendum, I have received representations from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the network of charity chief executives Acevo and the Charity Finance Group.

We will continue to work closely with charities to understand the potential impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Government is committed to supporting the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector address it’s organisational needs. Through the £20m Local Sustainability Fund, Government is supporting 265 small to medium sized organisation deliver change to secure and enhance their services.

Government is also actively tackling digital exclusion by working with partners to increase basic digital skills and Internet use for individuals and organisations.

Within the Office for Civil Society, officials are working with independent VCSE sector funders and influencers to build stronger leadership and governance. Part of this work will focus on preparing the sector for the future, which we expect to include building an understanding of the importance of developing digital skills and capability.

The Government has taken a number of steps to improve public trust and confidence in charities in England and Wales

The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 gives the Charity Commission new and enhanced powers to tackle serious abuses of charitable status. The Charity Commission is already taking a more robust approach to tackling abuse and mismanagement and has also simplified and updated guidance for trustees to remind them of their duties.

Following scandals in 2015 that highlighted unacceptable charitable fundraising practices, a new Fundraising Regulator has been established. Chaired by Lord Grade of Yarmouth, this independent regulator is tasked to set high standards of fundraising practice and to deal with public complaints when these have been breached. It has a range of sanctions and can refer serious non­compliance or abuse to the relevant statutory regulator.The Fundraising Regulator will also develop a Fundraising Preference Service to enable people who feel inundated with targeted fundraising requests to put a stop to them if they wish.

The Office for Civil Society and Innovation is further working with charities to explore the challenges facing the leadership of the voluntary and community sector. One of the four themes that has been identified as part of this work is 'responding to decline in trust and confidence'. A dedicated working group has been convened to explore this issue and identify potential solutions.

The UK has a strong and diverse charitable sector. It is too early at this stage to make a full assessment of the potential effects for charities resulting from the outcome of the EU referendum. We will continue working with charities and their representative bodies to understand the potential effects on charities and the potential impact on funding for charities. These will depend on the arrangements agreed for exiting the EU, and different types of charity are likely to be affected in different ways.

The UK has a strong and diverse charitable sector. It is too early at this stage to make a full assessment of the potential effects for charities resulting from the outcome of the EU referendum. We will continue working with charities and their representative bodies to understand the potential effects on charities and the potential impact on funding for charities. These will depend on the arrangements agreed for exiting the EU, and different types of charity are likely to be affected in different ways.

It is the longstanding policy of successive British governments not to comment on intelligence matters. However, as the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) said in its judgment of 22 June 2015 that any interception that occurred was lawful, necessary and proportionate.

While the IPT has found in favour of two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), it has made clear that neither of the NGOs suffered material detriment, damage or prejudice as a result of the breaches.

Caution should be exercised against drawing conclusions from the IPT’s ruling about the target of any such interception that may have taken place. A finding in favour of an individual or organisation does not necessarily mean that they themselves were the target; it could equally mean that they were simply in communication with a target. However I can neither confirm nor deny specifics relating to this or any other case.