Charity leaders call for urgent summit on charity protections post-Brexit

Charity leaders have sought an urgent summit with leading figures in the Leave camp, to discuss the income the sector is expected to lose as a result of the UK’s exit from the European Union.

The sector is estimated to receive around £200m a year from grants and contracts from Europe, income now at risk following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

Interim Acevo chief executive Asheem Singh has made a fresh call for a discussion on Brexit’s impact on charities, following on from a recent letter to Iain Duncan-Smith and Michael Gove.

Acevo will also seek to discuss the preliminary planning needed to preserve the benefit the sector previously received from the £11bn European and Social Investment Fund.

“The British people have spoken and it is now mission critical that we come together to ensure a fair outcome for all,” Singh said. “Without urgent reform, Brexit will prefigure concrete cuts to community funding. It is time for immediate talks between third sector leaders and the Government to ensure this shortfall does not result in immediate and real harm.”

The chief executives’ association also seeks clarification on key regulatory areas previously under EU jurisdiction, such as child welfare, environmental protection, and workers’ rights.

Britons yesterday voted in favour of leaving the EU, with 52 per cent of the more than 33.5 million votes cast falling on the Leave side.

Prime Minister David Cameron has this morning announced he will step down, with a view to having a new leader in place by the Conservative Party conference in October.

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