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Commission left in dark over funding for public collections certificates

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 1 Nov 2007

The capacity of the Charity Commission to implement a new system of certificates for public fundraising collections remains in doubt after the government failed to provide extra funding for the scheme in its latest spending review.

Although the Commission was allocated an extra £500,000 to help it deliver its new responsibilities under the Charities Act 2006, the settlement announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) on 9 October specifically excluded money for public collections.

The certificates system is one of the last parts of the Act due to come into force, with an implementation timetable set for 2009 at the earliest. The planned system will see charities applying to the Commission for certificates deeming them fit to carry out a collection, valid for up to five years. Andrew Hind, chief executive of the Commission, said it was in “positive discussions” with the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) and the Treasury over securing a satisfactory way of implementing this part of the Act. “We remain committed to implementing all aspects of the Act that fall to us, in full, including those provisions regarding the licensing of public charitable collections.”

However, Sarah Atkinson, head of corporate affairs at the Commission, said it had always been clear that it could not shoulder the extra responsibility of managing the licensing of public collections without extra resources.

“In one way, we’re no further forward than we were,” she said. “We appreciate everyone’s keen to know what the way forward for this is going to be, us included.”

Mick Aldridge, chief executive of the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association, said: “We are disappointed that the OTS appear to be de-prioritising the issue but we continue to press home to local authorities that change is inevitable and planned transition towards the new regime is both sensible and prudent.”

Aldridge said that the change to the law was inevitable and he did not think local authorities would become overly obstructive if the introduction of the certificates was delayed. “The feeling in the water, so to speak, is that the local authorities that want to talk will still talk. Those that are determined to hold out may see this as an opportunity for a bit of a swan-song.”

A spokesman from the OTS said: “We are looking at a range of options and are currently engaged with positive discussions with the Treasury and Charity Commission.”

The CSR also included a widely anticipated 5 per cent cut per year on the Commission’s funding, meaning its overall budget would fall from £31.7m in 2007-8 to £29.4m in 2010-11. This includes £1m a year that it will use to implement a counter-terrorism strategy.

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