Acevo's chief executive has criticised the chair of the Charity Commission's comments about the sector being in 'crisis', and accused him of undermining the sector.
In his blog post, No, we ain’t in crisis!, Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo (pictured) said that he found it "disappointing” that Shawcross would use a word like "crisis" to describe the sector in the wake of the death of Olive Cooke.
Bubb said that he expected the regulator to “rise above the noise of the tabloids, and make the public case for charities’ work”, but instead accused Shawcross of “following the lead set by lurid coverage in the press”.
“I certainly don’t think it is the chair of the Charity Commission’s job to court national controversy for the sector he is mandated to support”, he said.
Bubb said that while a review of fundraising practices is needed it was “not true” to suggest that the sector was in crisis. He said the word did nothing to help the sector and had just made “another lurid headline” for the media.
'I don't trust the current leadership to protect campaigning'
Bubb also criticised the Commission's approach to charities campaigning and said the expected review of its guidance on the issue, CC9, is "wasteful and unnessary".
He said that he did not "trust" the current leadership not to "undermine campaigning".
"I hope they will prove me wrong," he said. "But interventions like the those of the chair in this now-infamous speech will certainly not help."
He also said: "The Commission appears determined to do a wasteful and unnecessary review of CC9, the guidance on charity campaigning, simply for declarative purposes it seems," he said.
"By far the most likely outcome of such a review would be to curtail our duties to campaign on behalf of our beneficiaries."
He suggested that the Commission should instead produce short guidance about social media.
Three-quarters of Acevo members don't support charging for regulation
The Acevo chief executive also went on to attack other parts of the speech that Shawcross gave at the Charity Conversations series, hosted by investment firm Rathbones in London on Wednesday.
During his speech Shawcross said he was exploring the option of charities paying for the Commission and that a number of people in the sector were positive about the idea.
But Bubb said: "I am not certain that a compulsory charge is really in the best interests of a free and fair society, especially when there are questions about the quality of that regulator’s contribution to the national debate. Even beyond this, I remain sceptical. In a recent Acevo survey, 75 per cent of our membership were against charging for regulation."
