Mrs Burt recently asked Minister for the Third Sector, Angela Smith, what recent discussions she has had with Alistair Darling about the effect the phasing out will have on charities. In her reply, Mrs Smith said that she is "very concerned" about the withdrawal of the cheque on charitable organisations.
"The phasing out of the cheque will hurt many people, however I feel that it will cause particular problems to the charity sector where a large amount of their income comes from single donations in the form of cheques."
"Local charities such as SoLO, Marie Curie, and many other national charities do so much to help people and we should not stand by idly while a vital source of their income gets taken away."
"I do welcome the Minister for the Third Sector's expression of concern, however we need action to make sure that charities can be assured they will not see a drop off of payments."
"It is not too late to reverse the decision to phase out the cheque and I call on the Government to take the action needed before it is too late"
