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Umbrella chiefs sit tight on expense details

Finance | Tania Mason | 23 Jun 2009

At least two umbrella body chief executives have declined to disclose any more detail of their expense claims beyond what they have already published, preferring to wait and see whether the new independent working group on expenses recommends that they should.

This week, RNID chief executive Jackie Ballard (pictured) waded into the debate on publication of charity expenses by saying that simply providing totals without any indication of what the claims were for, was virtually meaningless.

So Charity Finance asked four of the sector umbrella bodies that have already published their expense totals – NCVO, NAVCA, CFDG and the Institute of Fundraising – whether they were prepared to provide detailed breakdowns of their CEOs’ claims.

The two that have so far responded, NCVO and the Institute, declined. A spokesman for NCVO said: “As you know, we have set up with CFDG the independent expert group on expenses. This is with the purpose of getting consistency across the sector on what and how we report expenses. The group will be taking evidence from interested organisations, they will publish recommendations and we are looking forward to considering the proposals they come forward with.”

Institute chief Lindsay Boswell took the same line. “The Institute welcomes the work that has been commissioned by NCVO and CFDG to look at a best practice approach to expenses,” he said.

“We will wait to see the outcomes of the independent expert group that aims to get consistency across the sector on what and how we report expenses and consider their recommendations once public.”

NAVCA’s Kevin Curley was out of the office until Friday; CFDG’s Keith Hickey did not respond to enquiries. Acevo’s Stephen Bubb has already said he does not believe charity chief executives should have to publish their expenses.

Ballard told Charity Finance she thought there were two issues that should be of interest to donors or members of charities - what kind of expenses can be claimed for and to what maximum amount, and what the process is for signing off the CEO’s expenses claims. "Global figurs are meaningless on their own," she added.

The Independent Expert Group on Expenses, to be chaired by former Charity Commissioner Lindsay Driscoll, will carry out a two-month consultation on the issue and hopes to publish guidance by October.

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Directory: Charity Finance Directors' Group (CFDG) | National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
Who's Who: Keith Hickey | Sir Stuart Etherington | Sir Stephen Bubb | Lindsay Boswell