The Charities Act 2022 and its Dissuasive Effects on Donors

The Charities Act 2022 is the product of a report, Technical Issues in Charity Law, by the Law Commission. It is argued that certain headline reforms in the legislation should not be understood as merely technical. In order to give that claim an objective meaning, a frame for analysis is adopted – it is seen that the reform package has a dissuasive effect on donors. That means, all other things being equal, that donors are steered to reduce the size of their gifts, or in some cases, to refrain from giving. There is a careful line to tread. There is no magic in encouraging donation. It is not argued that the dissuasive reforms are necessarily undesirable or unjustifiable in themselves. Instead, the analysis is focused on a tight claim that unrecognised dissuasive, and so substantive, changes have been made.