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Heritage Link is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales
Registered No: 4577804 Registered charity No 1094793
Registered Office: c/o Baker Tilly, The Clock House, 140 London Road, GuildfordGU1 1UW
Tom Parsons,
IR Charities, Room 108,
New Wing,
Somerset House, Strand,
London WC2R 1LB
19th February 2004
Dear Mr Parsons
The Government has invited comments on the decision announced in the Chancellor’s pre Budget Statement to withdraw the concession enabling charities to claim Gift Aid on day admissions. I am writing as Chairman of Heritage Link, to express our concern over this, given its damaging consequences for the heritage sector. Some of our individual members, including the National Trust and the Historic Houses Association as well as the Association of Independent Museums have already written to the Treasury and the Inland Revenue on this issue. In addition to museums, a large number of historic buildings, open to the public under the aegis of registered charities are affected by the decision.
Heritage Link brings together voluntary organisations in the heritage sector, united by their common interests in the historic environment. Heritage Link was formally established in 2002, in response to the DCMS/DTLR White Paper, A Force for Our Future, and now has 63 members, representing a wide spectrum of voluntary groups and an estimated combined membership of over 3½ million. It aims to influence policy, underpin advocacy and increase capacity by providing a forum for members to formulate and promote policy on core issues, and a network for sharing information to support members in their work.
Our concerns are:
- that the decision to withdraw the Gift Aid arrangement was made without understanding the financial implications for many heritage organisations, in terms of their expenditure on conservation and maintenance
- that the decision will in particular affect the revenue of voluntary organisations and those operating single sites.
- that an uncertain climate for financial planning threatens stability and the reduction in resources will reduce the extent to which these organisations are able to contribute to the Government’s wider agendas.
- that the practice of reclaiming Gift Aid in this way has been termed a loophole or tax evasion whereas the enterprises operating Gift Aid schemes in this way were within the law.
- that the encouraging reaction of visitors, many of whom were pleased to enhance their admission payment, was not taken into account.
The introduction of Gift Aid on admissions was an enlightened initiative which has benefited many charities. It is seen as a gesture of government support for the voluntary heritage and cultural sector, and as an acknowledgement of the sector’s important contribution to the economy, to tourism and to education.
We do not believe that the financial ‘loss’ to the Inland Revenue is such as to outweigh the additional benefits which the hard-pressed voluntary sector has been able to deliver as a result of the financial help it represents. We would encourage the Inland Revenue to explore more carefully the principles on which the decision to withdraw Gift Aid on day admissions was made, with the intention of identifying some way in which visitors and heritage attractions can both continue to benefit.
Yours sincerely,
Anthea Case, CBE
Chairman Heritage Link
Trustees of Heritage Link:
Tony Burton, Director of Policy and Strategy, The National Trust
Stephen Enthoven, Director of Projects, Architectural Heritage Fund
Dr Jenny Freeman, Director, Historic Chapels Trust
Honor Gay, Head of Learning, NaturalHistoryMuseum
George Lambrick, Director, Council for British Archaeology
David Sekers, former Director of Regions, The National Trust
John Sell, Chairman, Joint Committee of National Amenity Societies
Matthew Slocombe, Deputy Secretary, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
Richard Wilkin, Director, Historic Houses Association.
Heritage Link is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales
Registered No: 4577804 Registered charity No 1094793
Registered Office: c/o Baker Tilly, The Clock House, 140 London Road, GuildfordGU1 1UW