The group is comprised of a cross-section of organisations including The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Liberty, the Muslim Council of Britain and Oxfam. It aims to ensure that charities in general do not fall into disrepute due to the actions of a minority of organisations with alleged terrorist links, and to ensure that the government takes no action without solid evidence.

Chair of the group, Lord Plant, said: “The advisory group will be working to assess what evidence there is of the abuse of charities and provide a recommendation to government on how it can work with the sector to ensure that charities are not exploited for terrorist purposes.” Lord Plant also said that the group would be discussing how the Charity Commission could be involved in the process.

NCVO chief executive Stuart Etherington said that it appeared as if much of the government’s investigations into terror links with charities seemed to have been carried out “in a vacuum” with little voluntary sector consultation. He added: “We want to ensure that charities’ voices are heard in these discussions, and that all measures are proportionate and based on evidence of that misuse [of charitable funds to support terror].”

The advisory group plans to produce a report setting out its findings, and to respond publicly to the Home Office / Treasury report which is due at the end of this year.