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Bubb discloses expenses to Acevo members summit 1

Finance | Vibeka Mair | 11 Jun 2009

Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb today told a members' summit that he claimed £9,751.04 in expenses last year.

His announcement means that all the major umbrella body CEOs have now disclosed their expense claims. Bubb did so on his first day back at work since Charity Finance first requested disclosure.

In his speech to the chief executives' summit, he referred to “excitement” in the sector press on expenses and an interesting contest by umbrella body CEOs to publish their expenses: “a kind of ‘you show me yours and I’ll show you mine’ campaign”.

He said he realised he was the only umbrella body CEO yet to publish his claims, but felt the whole debate was inappropriate as it distracted from the recession and other more important matters. “But I don’t want rumours so I’m telling you, my members, what they are because I am accountable to you, not the wider press.

"In 2007-8 I spent £7,464.75 and in 2008-9 I spent £9,751.04,” he said. “I don’t know what that tells you.

“It’s depressing for me that my expenses were £5,000 less than Stuart (Etherington)’s, I clearly need to go out more.”

Expenses ‘not real issue’

Bubb said he felt the real issue was not how much people’s expenses are, but whether organisations have proper scrutiny in place and effective and robust auditing.

“Dragging us into the MPs’ debate is false, true accountability is impact and transparency about what we are doing.”

He said that when CEOs are doing important work it is distressing to feel you have to account for your expenses and get into a league table of why one person spent more than another.

“CEOs should not be afraid of revealing expenses, but on the other hand they also shouldn’t be afraid of saying they have effective systems and good governance in place and so they won’t get into accounting for paper clips,” he said.

Alexander: Public trust ‘key to leadership’

Earlier in the day, Acevo chair Lesley-Anne Alexander said she was happy to publish her expenses but cautioned: “We shouldn’t be hysterical about the debate.”

She added: “You need to trust organisations and staff. Public trust is a key attribute of leadership, we need to cherish the trust we have.”

Alexander said she had only claimed one flight to Belfast since becoming chair of Acevo.

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Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO)
Who's Who: Vibeka Mair | Sir Stephen Bubb | Lesley-Anne Alexander