The Charity Commission is assessing complaints about the True and Fair Foundation, after the charity published what was widely described as a “flawed” report into how much large charities spend on their cause.
A spokeswoman for the Commission confirmed to Civil Society News that it is “assessing the concerns to determine what, if any, regulatory action needs to be taken”. The Commission cannot comment further at this stage.
The True and Fair Foundation, previously known as Miller Philanthropy, published its report, A Hornet’s Nest, on Saturday. The report calls for all charities to be forced to spend at least 65 per cent of their income on the cause and highlighted out a number of large charities for not meeting this threshold.
The report was condemed by NCVO, Acevo and the shadow minister for Civil Society, Anna Turley. The Charity Commission described its analysis as "flawed". Most of the charities named issued statements disputing the way their details had been represented.
Civil Society News understands that the complaints made to the Charity Commission relate to the fact that the foundation went ahead with its report after experts in the sector warned that its analysis was misleading. There are also concerns that the aim of publishing the report was to attract publicity.
Karl Wilding, director of public policy at NCVO, has blogged extensively on the issue. He has also shared the email exchange he had with Gina Miller, founder of the True and Fair Foundation on NCVO's website.
There are also questions about whether producing the report was in line with the foundation’s own charitable objectives, and the charity's whose only trustees are Gina Miller and her husband Alan Miller, is independent from about the couple’s business interests.
Miller told Civil Society News that she would "categorically defend any complaints".
She has previously addressed criticism of the report via the True and Fair Foundation's website and on social media. She said NCVO was “an industry lobbying body that seeks to defend the indefensible”.
“For six years now I have been trying to debate transparency and accountability in the sector,” she said “through debates, co-authoring excellent reports produced by the Centre for Social Justice, articles, and giving polite speeches. I am frequently met by denial and abusive comments from the NCVO, Acevo and others; it is no wonder that the situation has been getting worse when the charities, their industry lobby groups, and their regulator refuse to act properly and responsibly.”
On the Charity Commission, which had described her analysis as “flawed”, she said: “Since they are now claiming that our data and analysis, which is also theirs, is misleading, the professional standing of the Charity Commission must come under question in these circumstances.”
