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Campbell's scoop

Finance | 1 Nov 2006

The appointment of Campbell Robb (pictured) as director general of the Office of the Third Sector, or Ed's right-hand man, has met with universal approval on the face of it. Robb is someone with an impressive record in the voluntary sector during his eight years at NCVO, yet with a strong knowledge of the workings of government. P

rior to joining NCVO, where he has latterly been director of public policy, he did time as a researcher for David Blunkett and press officer for Chris Smith. He has spent the last six months on secondment to the Treasury for one day a week, advising on the Comprehensive Spending Review, so has a relationship with a possible future Prime Minister. And he is Scottish. In many ways, he is ready-made for the role.

Instant reactions from the major umbrella bodies should always be taken with a pinch of salt. When major appointments are made from within the sector, they are rightly praised as evidence of the capacity of charities to develop high quality per formers, yet it is unlikely anyone is going to come out and rubbish such an appointment, especially as they will have to work closely with the person in question.

The appointment is an endorsement of NCVO's undoubted importance in the voluntary sector's improved and increasingly influential relationship with government over the last few years. But there will be concerns, once the dust has settled on the expected endorsements of Robb's suitability, about the danger that he will end up as NCVO's man on the inside - and rightly so. While there is no suggestion that he isn't enough of his own man to see a bigger picture, he will have to be careful to give voice to the concerns of all of the sector and not just the hymn sheet that NCVO sings from.

Brownian motion

If Robb does have the ear of the future prime minister he might want to have a word about the damage that comments such as those made by Gordon Brown in his recent speech on the funding of terrorism can do (see news page 6). In it, Brown stated that he knew that many charities and donors have been and are being exploited by terrorists. While the terror threat is not one to be taken lightly, and there is evidence that some charities have been involved, unwittingly and otherwise in the past, it is stretching the truth considerably to claim it is as widespread as such glib comments suggest.

The Treasury press office has been unable to provide any examples to back up Brown's words. Brown himself mentioned the current inquiry into Crescent Relief by the Charity Commission, but until there is an outcome to that, which finds evidence of misuse of funds, this case should not be used to add legitimacy to Brown's allegations.

In fairness, charities were only one group mentioned by Brown as he set out his credentials as a strong leader tough on terror. But they are the ones who get the headlines and it is worrying that a future premier carelessly and inadvertently ends up tarring all charities with a very broad brush. If the sector is a key component of the government's future plans, the government needs to be more savvy about the effect of sensationalist soundbites. Colourful interpretations of the economic picture are one thing, but this could have serious implications in terms of the public's trust and confidence in charities.  

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Directory: National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) | Office of the Third Sector
Who's Who: Campbell Robb