Brighter red tape

Finance | Ian Allsop | 1 Feb 2005

'Not all red tape is bad' claims a new report on voluntary sector regulation commissioned by NCVO. It suggests that voluntary sector providers of public services welcome regulation, if it is effective, flexible and not overly bureaucratic.

In areas like supported housing, day care for children and residential care, charities said that regulation promotes public confidence, protects service users and can help organisations to secure funding and raise staff moral. The report concludes that voluntary organisations consider regulation a good thing in principle but often flawed in practice.

The Impact of Regulation on Voluntary Organisations, written by consultant Margaret Bolton, makes a number of recommendations including that new regulatory systems need time to bed down before further fundamental changes are proposed or implemented, and that front line practitioners should be involved in formulating regulations and standards or targets.

Stuart Etherington, NCVO chief executive, said: "This report appears to show that less regulation is not always better regulation."

Directory: National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Who's Who: Sir Stuart Etherington

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