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Paul Palmer admits conflict of interest over expenses

Finance | Tania Mason | 13 Oct 2009

A business that has just launched a software solution to help charities report their expenses boasts Professor Paul Palmer as a board member – the same Paul Palmer that sits on the independent panel that is devising guidance on how charities should report their expenses.

But Professor Palmer (pictured) says he declared a conflict of interest to Charity Business on 15 September and has never been involved in any discussions about the company’s new Charity Expense solution.

Charity Expense is a customisable online reporting tool that Charity Business claims will “do away with the paper and the cumbersome process” of the “ever-increasing disclosure requirements” in relation to the expenses of trustees, senior management and staff.

The total cost of the product to charities is £3.75 per person per month.

Palmer is a member of the independent expert group on expenses that is halfway through consulting the sector about the extent to which senior staff and trustees of charities should report their expenses. The group has received more than 600 responses and hopes to issue guidance to the sector around the end of the year.

No declaration to expenses panel 

Palmer admitted he had not declared an interest about the launch of Charity Expense to other members of the expenses panel, but said he would now do so.

“The board meeting at Charity Business when this was advised and I declared an interest was on 15 September. 

"The next meeting due for the expenses panel was on 28 September, but unfortunately I had to give my apologies so did not attend and the next meeting was cancelled. So no, they have not been advised. You quite rightly raise the issue and I will email [chair of the expenses group] Lindsay Driscoll to advise her of my position.”

When the expenses debate kicked off on Charity Finance blogs in the summer, Palmer posted a comment on one of the blogs suggesting the new SORP should require disclosure of expenses of senior charity staff and trustees.

Last year, Charity Business became partly owned by Triodos Opportunities Fund and Prof Palmer joined the board at that time.

New disclosure requirements 

On its website, Charity Business says it will run webinars for those interested in finding out more about Charity Expense and how it can help charities “ensure you are fully compliant with the new disclosure requirements that might come out of the consultation”.

“It has the ability to provide you with the level of reporting that might be needed when the consultation on charity expenses is completed in November,” the website reads.

But Prof Palmer insisted that Charity Business has had no inside information from him and that his two roles can co-exist.

He told Charity News Alert: “You have to remember I’m only on the board of Charity Business, not involved in the operational side of it. I made it very clear that I could not discuss anything to do with what I am doing with Lindsay.

“I don’t even know how the new expense solution works.”

Lindsay Driscoll was travelling and unavailable for comment.

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