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Group to devise best practice guidance on expenses 5

Finance | Tania Mason | 22 Jun 2009

Former Charity Commissioner Lindsay Driscoll is to chair a new high-powered working group that will develop best practice on how charities should report the expense claims of their senior managers and trustees.

The committee has been established by the NCVO and Charity Finance Directors’ Group in response to a debate in the sector about whether charities should publicly disclose their chief executives’ expenses, sparked by Charity Finance’s request for the main membership groups to provide their CEOs’ claim amounts two weeks ago.

NCVO, CFDG, NAVCA and the Institute of Fundraising all complied with the request, but Acevo declined, choosing instead to disclose Stephen Bubb’s expenses only to the umbrella group’s members.

Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, who was the first to publish his expenses, said that since the story broke, he had been contacted by several NCVO members “wanting to do the right thing” and asking for guidance on best practice.

Two-month consultation

So the NCVO and CFDG have decided to form a committee to devise such guidance. Called the Independent Expert Group on Expenses, it will be chaired by Lindsay Driscoll (pictured), now chair of the Governance Code Group, and will also comprise Directory of Social Change chief executive Debra Allcock-Tyler, charity unit partner at BDO Stoy Hayward Don Bawtree, and Professor Paul Palmer from Cass Business School.

The Group will facilitate a consultation on the issue, inviting written submissions from all interested parties over the next two months and aiming to publish guidance on the reporting of expenses within four months.

CFDG chief executive Keith Hickey added: “Public trust and confidence are of paramount importance in the charity sector. It is therefore crucial that careful and detailed consideration is given to this issue so that we can give the best advice to organisations in the sector.”

SORP Committee to write an article

The working group will work closely with the Charity Commission on the issue. The Charities SORP Committee, which is chaired by Charity Commission chief executive Andrew Hind, considered the subject at its meeting last week and now plans to write an article that will “help to clarify the issues involved”.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “The SORP committee considered whether it might be helpful to put something in print reminding people of the current reporting requirements under SORP regarding expenses.

"After discussion, we have decided to produce information in the form of an article that would help clarify the issues involved. The Committee will keep under review the option of amending the SORP in this area for the future.”

Acevo: 'Expenses distracts from real issues'

Acevo said it wishes the group well, but still believes that "focusing on the issue of expenses distracts from the real heart of the matter".

A spokeswoman said: "The work to be done is on accountability and transparency in our sector, which is why this is the central mission of the work Acevo are doing with the Impact Coalition."

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Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) | Charity Commission | National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Who's Who: Tania Mason | Debra Allcock Tyler