Charities will have an affordable route to appeal Charity Commission decisions thanks to yesterday's launch of the new Charity Tribunal.

Andy Atkins, director of relief and development at Tearfund, is to succeed Tony Juniper as executive director of Friends of the Earth.

The Queen has set in motion a law to allow banks and building societies to hand over money lying in dormant bank accounts to community investment, but the government has stopped short of committing part of the funds raised to a social investment bank.

The director general of the Office of the Third Sector indicated last week that the government would not seek to make the Compact a legally binding commitment.