More sector commentators have come out in support of the Charity Commission in the wake of the National Audit Office report, with Directory of Social Change CEO Debra Allcock-Tyler saying the report is “fundamentally flawed”.
The long-awaited NAO report criticised the regulator for being too impotent and not good value for money, and recommended that it should use its statutory powers more liberally, devise new ways to measure and report the effectiveness of its regulatory activity, and develop an approach to identify and deal with trustees who deliberately abuse charitable status.
But various sector figures have now voiced their resentment at the NAO’s criticism of the Commission.
Debra Allcock Tyler (pictured) said: “To call this report a hatchet job would overstep the mark. But reading between the lines you get the feeling that one small, vulnerable nominally independent public body is leaving another out to dry in the blowing political winds; in part to shelter itself from those same winds.”
The report’s conclusions are “fundamentally flawed”, she said. “It takes an overly narrow view of regulation and doesn’t even consider the voluminous guidance and advice that the Commission provides to charities, which trustees have a duty to regard.
“This is not separate from the Commission’s regulatory effectiveness, it is an integral, proactive part of it.
“You can’t regulate 160,000-plus charities across vastly complex areas of law on a budget of £22m without a strong element of informed self-regulation by charity trustees.”
She pointed out that earlier this year the regulator was accused of coming down too hard on the Plymouth Brethren, yet condemned for not taking tougher action against the Cup Trust. “The Commission may be damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t,” she said.
The NAO’s recommendations are “sensible but not ground-breaking” and the assertion that the Commission does not deliver value for money is “absurd”.
Nick Brooks, head of charities at accountants Kingston Smith, was similarly unimpressed with the NAO’s findings. “I wonder what they expect,” he pondered. “While a £22.7m budget may sound generous, when you stretch it across 163,000 charities it works out at just £139 per charity.”
He said the picture painted by the report would chip away at public trust and confidence in the sector, and questioned the proportionality of the conclusions and recommendations.
“Can we really expect an organisation that is required to fulfil such a broad range of diverse and sometimes conflicting roles – as regulator as well as advocate – to concentrate solely on regulation and regulatory powers?”
Navca chief executive Joe Irvin also warned on the public trust issue. He said it was important that the Commission remains alert to non-compliance and abuse and takes firm action on the rare occasions that charities abuse public trust – but he cautioned against the Commission “turning into some kind of Rambo, acting tough but showing little understanding”.
