Sector surprised by government's closure of Gift Aid Forum 4

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 3 Dec 2010

Charity umbrella bodies have been left surprised and disappointed by the government's sudden closure of the Gift Aid Forum.

Forum members were given no warning that government intended to shut down the Gift Aid Forum when they convened in London for a scheduled meeting on Tuesday, 30 November. When all gathered together, government representatives told the members this would be their last meeting.

Louise Richards, director of policy and campaigns for the Institute of Fundraising, which was a key member of the Gift Aid Forum and staunch advocate of gift aid reform, told Civil Society: “It would be wrong to say we’re not disappointed.”

In a blog post this week after the forum meeting, Acevo chief executive Stephen Bubb - while staying mum on the plans to close the forum permanently - gave this review of the proceedings: "Let's be honest and say we are disappointed. There are some good things in the proposals for Gift Aid reform which we support. We will help make it happen. But clearly the sector was hoping for more."

New 'Customer Forum' to be set up

Replacing the Gift Aid Forum, which was set up under Labour to increase take-up of gift aid and bring more resources into the sector, will be a possibly more donor-focused ‘Customer Forum’ which will look at a wider range of issues to do with the structures around giving including payroll giving and VAT. No meeting dates, objectives or timetables have yet been set for this Customer Forum.

While there had been a lack of consensus on what shape gift aid reform should take from the sector bodies which made up the forum, which included NCVO, the Charities Aid Foundation, and Charity Tax Group, Richards said that this was not the reason the government gave for shutting down the group.

“What the government is now doing is extending [on previous work] and reaching out to the donor element,” said Richards.

“In spite of the government not being able to go with the reforms on the table, we do have optimism,” she added. “Just because we haven’t got bread today doesn’t mean we’ll not have jam tomorrow.”

Richards said that in response to the new focus of the Customer Forum away from gift aid reform per se, the Institute will be lobbying the government to take measures to simplify the gift aid process for both charities and donors. “We’re hoping for some really substantial changes by the end of next year,” she said. “We’d be disappointed if that didn’t happen.”

James Allen, senior policy officer at NCVO, said the Forum had been a useful platform to engage with government, but it "has probably gone as far as it can in the current format and we're looking forward to working with colleagues from across the sector and government once details of the new consultation arrangements become clear".

"Our long term aim has been to secure simplification of gift aid. It is our strong view that gift aid remains a success and an important source of funding for the sector and we are optimistic that government is taking the views of the sector on board."

Meanwhile, Hannah Terrey, head of policy and public affairs at CAF, said that her organisation took heart in the fact that the government said it is interested in improving the technology around gift aid.

"CAF figures show that a third of the population have never heard of gift aid so we particularly welcome the focus on raising awareness and understanding among donors and charities," she added.

"We will discuss our ideas of how this could work in more detail with government in the coming weeks. It is now up to the sector and the government to move things forward in order to encourage growth and innovation."

Gift aid use remains flat

The news coincides today with the revelation in the annual UK Giving report that gift aid take up has remained flat over the last financial year, stuck at around 40 per cent, prompting fellow Forum member, CAF chief executive John Low, to reiterate his organisation’s claim that this means an additional £750m is being lost by charities every year.

Directory: Charities Aid Foundation | Charity Tax Group | Institute of Fundraising | National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)

Place a comment

Cathy Pharoah
Co-Director
Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy
5 Dec 2010

Why is the sector surprised? The time-limited nature of the Forum, with an end-date in November, was made clear to members by Treasury at the outset.

Justine Greening's letter has set out a clear agenda for improving the operation of Gift Aid. There are many things the sector can do - sharing good practice through a dedicated website might be one simple idea to help smaller charities.

It would be great to a cross-sector development group now to take forward this kind of initiative as well as more ambitious projects such as a shared database.

More radical fiscal changes to Gift Aid were not introduced because it was never clear from the research or policy evidence that any alternatives would bring more benefit than the scheme does now, at less cost. In many ways it is highly sucessful, and the envy of many countries.

[Reply]

Disappointed Dawn
4 Dec 2010

"Charity umbrella bodies have been left surprised and disappointed by the government's sudden closure of the Gift Aid Forum."

Really?

Maybe those quoted in this article should check their facts with those actually sat on the Forum - it was always intended that the Forum would report in Autumn 2010 and only go for one meeting beyond that report. It is simply not true to say Forum members were given no warning that Government intended to shut down the Gift Aid Forum after the recent meeting.

Why are these self appointed spokespeople for the sector seeking to create unrest when it does not exist?

The Sector is a diverse one and different parts of the sector have different priorities, as do different donor groups,

Just because one umbrella body doesn't get its own way does not mean that progress has not been made. Let's get behind the proposals that we can all support (like online gift aid claims) and not just seek to grab headlines for our own organisation.

[Reply]

Joel Dainnes
3 Dec 2010

Sorry, but where's the surprise?

My understanding is that the Government did not ‘shut down’ the Forum. It was never intended to go beyond the Fanning Report, which the treasury published this afternoon.

So, actually, no surprises for anyone – unless they were participating at a distance.

Did any of those expressing such shock actually actively participate in the meetings, or is this just third sector spin again from ACEVO et al?

[Reply]

Rarry Revan
Ranter
Rantingrules
3 Dec 2010

Blimey, are these people who represent "the sector" really surprised? There is no money left in the pot, either to give to charities or to pay for spangley new systems. I'm not surprised they shut the forum if people who should know better bang on about bread and jam all day long. What a waste of time and money!

In a while, crocodile.

Rarry

[Reply]

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