Bubb: Charity Commission should have defended tax cap claims4

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 24 Apr 2012

The independence of the Charity Commission has been called into question by Sir Stephen Bubb who says the regulator should have piped up against government claims of tax avoidance through dodgy charities.

The Acevo chief executive told civilsociety.co.uk that it should not have been left to himself to demand the names of the bogus charities the government alleged are used by the wealthy to funnel donations and limit their tax liability.

“You could argue [claims of dodgy charities] was a direct government criticism of the Charity Commission. I would have expected them to say something,” said Bubb.

While he praised the rest of the sector for uniting and working with philanthropists as “superb”, he said the Charity Commission had failed to defend itself when it needed to.

“One area of disappointment was the Charity Commission. I had expected them to be a little more robust in defending the sector when accusations were being made about dodgy charities. It shouldn’t have been left to me to demand the names of those charities. The Charity Commission should have been doing that.”

When faced with government claims that tax dodgers were using bogus charities, the Charity Commission should have held the government to account, said Sir Stephen.

“It does pose a question about how independent the Charity Commission is if it’s not prepared to stand up and speak their mind robustly.”

The Charity Commission declined to respond to the comments.

Directory: Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) | Charity Commission
Who's Who: Sir Stephen Bubb

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Sir Robin Bogg
CEO
BUBB
25 Apr 2012

I know it's been an bizarre period for news and the old certainties have become uncertain but John Weth, defending the Charity Commission? We really are living through strange times. Has he been hacked?

[Reply]

John Weth
Chairman
Association for Charities
25 Apr 2012

From an organisation which has not hesitated in the past to criticise the Commission ( on its exercise of regulatory powers),Sir Stephen Bubb's criticism of a lack of independence because it failed to respond to "government claims" of tax avoidance,seems uncalled for.The Commission surely has more important priorities in real life,at a time when its funding has been so severely cut,than responding to "government claims" which key umbrella groups had already dismissed so effectively.The Commission may not be perfect,but its independence from government has never seriously been in issue.
John Weth
Chairman, Association for Charities.

[Reply]

Robin Bogg
CEO
BUBB
24 Apr 2012

Well fancy that eh? How dare the government be allowed to make spurious claims without being challenged. Wouldn't happen if they had tried to claim Acevo support for the NHS Bill, for example.

http://boggsblub.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/i-should-have-defended-nhs-bill-support.html

[Reply]

David Smith
25 Apr 2012
Response to [Robin Bogg]

why do you allow Bubb to water down your site by promoting his ridiculous and frankly childish alter-ego?

his blog reminds me of jokes told by fathers that embarass their children or to put it another, Sir Stephen is simply not as funny as he thinks he is.

One must admire his resilience though. Posting often without generating comments. Perhaps resilent is wrong. Maybe he just likes the sound of his own voice...

[Reply]

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