Trading arguments

Finance | Ian Allsop | 23 Jan 2008

The charity sector's senior executives have united in a call to end the 'nonsensical red-tape' that hinders charity trading, in response to the report of the joint scrutiny committee on the draft Charities Bill.

The report recommended that charities should be allowed to trade directly up to 25 per cent of their total turnover, or £5,000 if greater. The recommendation followed evidence given by acevo and CFDG on the ill-effects of of current arrangements. It partially resurrects the Strategy Unit's recommendation to liberalise charity trading, which had been rejected by the government.

Stephen Bubb and Shirley Scott, chief executives of acevo and CFDG respectively, wrote to Fiona Mactaggart, the charities minister, calling for a relaxation of regulations that cause needless difficulties for charities fundraising through trading. Scott said: "Charities should be free to use separate companies when they are embarking on a new venture, but as long as they adhere to a duty of care, finance directors should be able to choose the most cost efficient way to do their jobs, without interference from government."

Acevo and CFDG have concluded that the limit should be expressed as a percentage of total turnover, accompanied by a legislative duty of care. A survey of 50 chief executives and finance directors showed over 95 per cent support this approach.

Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) | Charity Finance Directors' Group (CFDG)
Who's Who: Sir Stephen Bubb

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.