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Etherington provides expenses breakdown; Acevo refuses

Finance | Tania Mason | 4 Jun 2009

NCVO chief executive Stuart Etherington claimed £11,997 in expenses last year and £10,394 the year before.

Etherington was the first of the sector’s four main umbrella body chief executives to respond to Charity Finance’s request for publication of their last two years’ worth of expense claims. Acevo says it is yet to be persuaded of the value of doing so.

Within a few hours of asking, Etherington provided this breakdown:

2008/09: Total £11,997.08. This was spent on:

• Travel £2,760.85
• Networking £5,992.74
• Subsistence £3,243.49

2007/08: Total £10,394.69. This was spent on:

• Travel 2,757.49
• Networking 6,541
• Subsistence 1,095.62

Etherington said his expense claims were “approved by my chair and examined annually by my treasurer”.

He also said he planned to recommend to his organisation’s audit committee that the expenses of all the NCVO’s senior management and trustees be published online.

“This is a matter for the governance of NCVO to consider but I favour it,” he said.

The matter of charity CEOs expenses was first raised earlier this week in a blog by Charity Finance’s newest blogger, John Tate, who praised the openness shown by Barnardo’s CEO Martin Narey. Narey volunteered to publish his own expenses and that of his senior staff two weeks ago.

Acevo refusal

In response to Charity Finance’s request for disclosure, a spokeswoman for Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb said he was recuperating after an operation and was unavailable. But his deputy, Peter Kyle, posted a comprehensive comment on Tate’s blog, effectively saying Acevo would not be providing Bubb’s expense details.

Kyle told Charity Finance: “The argument will have to be won before I commit highly valuable charitable funding towards the considerable costs of rooting through files and collating the information that it took you 30 seconds to ask for in an email. I’m simply saying that no-one has convinced me that this would pass the public benefit test that people expect for all charitable activity.”

Lindsay Boswell, chief executive of the Institute of Fundraising, was out of the office and said he would respond tomorrow. Kevin Curley, chief executive of NAVCA, is yet to respond.

All four organisations are strategic partners of the Office of the Third Sector and so receive at least some of their funding from the public purse.

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Directory: National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Who's Who: Tania Mason | Sir Stuart Etherington | Lindsay Boswell