The Charity Commission’s "main responsibility" is to the public and robust regulation is needed to ensure they trust charities, chair William Shawcross said yesterday.

Speaking at ACEVO’s annual conference, Shawcross said the Commission had a responsibility “to assure the public that tax advantages and good faith bestowed on charities” were matched by the behaviour of trustees, employees and other volunteers.

“Some people in the sector have complained about increased charity regulation, but the public has not complained,” Shawcross said.

He said he thought the public favoured "robustness" in regulation.

Although 90 per cent of charities “behave extremely well”, the few don’t run the risk of damaging the whole sector, he said.

Shawcross said fundraising scandals of last summer were “an own blow”, committed by a few fundraising charities “against themselves”.

He said the Charity Commission “support entirely” plans for new fundraising self-regulation but warned against calls for greater statutory regulation.

“I have said no [to statutory regulation]” Shawcross said. “Charities must be trusted to regulate their own fundraising and we should continue to do that.”

“What happened in the summer was a shock to all charities and I’m sure the fundraising bodies will cooperate fully with Stuart Etherington’s proposals,” he said.

Shawcross said the new fundraising regulatory body “will be very effective” and is “taking the crisis revealed by the Daily Mail and others, seriously”.

He said the Charity Commission will be a “back-stop to the new body that is being set up under Sir Stuart’s plans”. 

'I will do everything I can'

Shawcross also highlighted the Commission's role as a protector of charities, and praised "kitchen table" charities in particular, calling them the "backbone of society". 

"They don''t get the attention they deserve," he said. "I will do everything I can to protect them."