Lord Hodgson says opposition to payment of trustees is generational

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Lord Hodgson says opposition to payment of trustees is generational9

Governance | Vibeka Mair | 16 Oct 2012

Lord Hodgson has told MPs that there is a generational shift in favour of paying trustees, with young people being more ready to allow the payment of charity trustees than older people.

Lord Hodgson was addressing the Public Administration Select Committee this morning, where he was quizzed on his controversial recommendation in the Charities Act Review to allow charities with an income above £1m to pay their trustees without seeking permission from the Charity Commission.

Hodgson defended the recommendation, insisting that charities with more than £1m in revenue were akin to a big business, which needed the ability to attract the best people.

Hodgson also said that there was a generational shift developing in attitude towards payment of trustees, citing an Ipsos Mori survey of the public which found young people were more ready to allow the payment of trustees than older people.

The Ipsos Mori survey found nearly half of 18-24 year-olds (47 per cent) favoured the payment of trustees, compared with just 22 per cent for those 65 or older.

Who's Who: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts

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Carl Allen
17 Oct 2012

The honourable Lord Hodgson's horse falls at the first hurdle ...

"Who pay for what is freely available?"

Or is the honourable Lord a mere jockey?

[Reply]

Donna Renney
Chief Executive
Cheltenham Festivals
17 Oct 2012

Is the payment of trustees more about allowing paid chief executives and other senior managers to be trustees? I think it can be challenging being a chief executive of a large charity yet not being a full member of the governing body, especially as an arts organisation and there could be a case for allowing more senior managers to be trustees of their charity. However, in general I am not in favour of paying trustees. However, the current rules on VAT cultural exemption mean that the governing body of a cultural organisation has to be entirely voluntary.

[Reply]

Jay Kennedy
Head of Policy
Directory of Social Change
17 Oct 2012

Peter - we'd be very interested to see your research. I know Karl Wilding from NCVO is also interested in the data around this question as there doesn't seem to be that much. jkennedy@dsc.org.uk

[Reply]

Peter Maple
Charity Course Director
LSBU
17 Oct 2012

I sometimes wonder who is briefing who. Hodgson uses selective data to try and shore up the Bubb view that the payment of trustees is somehow desirable. My intergenerational research into giving motivations also indicates that few people of any age think paying trustees is a good idea save in very exceptional purposes.

[Reply]

Hayley James
17 Oct 2012

I am 30 and a trustee and I do not wish to be paid. It is a voluntary commitment. The shift shouldn't be payment to attract the 'best people'. The shift needs to be the 'best people' being encouraged and willing to give their skills and experience without payment, as a community contribution.

[Reply]

Lynn Cadman
Governance Consultant
Illuminate Governance
17 Oct 2012

I agree. Lord Hodgson himself acknowledged in his report that payment wasn’t a primary barrier to recruiting good trustees, and the view of young people doesn’t change that.

Too often when I worked at the Charity Commission we saw large charities proposing to pay trustees without fully considering other, more effective options.

There is an assumption that size equates with good governance, and that payment is needed to attract the best people for the job. That just isn’t borne out in practice. We want to encourage large charities to be efficient and professional, but let’s not assume that paying trustees is the best way to achieve that.

[Reply]

Barney Mynott
16 Oct 2012

That is a poor use of statistics and research. It may be true but the evidence is not showing this. You cannot take one poll and make this sort of assumption.

Looking at recent political polling, Labour outpoll the Tories among young voters (eg a You Gov poll this morning showed 18-24 at Lab 57%, Con 19%).

You couldn't then use this to say that there was a generational shift in support for a political party as this would assume both that people will not change their views as they get older and that future generations will share this view currently held by 18-24 year olds.

More flippantly you could see a survey that shows that tea and cake is less popular with young people than older and wrongly prophesise it's demise.

[Reply]

Andrew
16 Oct 2012
Response to [Barney Mynott]

I agree. The majority of people are rightly opposed to the payment of Trustees. As a charity CEO I support that view. I am well able to recruit high quality volunteer Trustees. If we are moving to a society where we can no longer do this I suggest the concept of charity will be pretty much dead anyway.

[Reply]

Richard King
Head of Charities & Schools
Tozers LLP
19 Oct 2012
Response to [andrew]

"Trustee payment would help large charities 'get the right people', Lord Hodgson tells MPs." Isn't that precisely the concern?! People who want to be paid for their time, as if they were non-executive directors of a PLC, may look like the 'right people' to their mates in big business, but probably are not.

[Reply]

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