The Charity Commission has said it will not ask charities to report on how much they spend on campaigning in their 2016 annual return because of the “administrative burden” involved. 

The regulator first put forward the idea that charities report their campaigning spend in 2014, when it consulted on the content of its 2015 return.

It decided not to go ahead but said it would return to the idea this year.

This time it has said it will not revisit the idea in the near future.

On Friday, the regulator said: “Whilst recognising that there remains public interest in charity campaigning, the Commission has taken account of the administrative burden that such an additional question would place on charities, and so will not include a question in the 2016 annual return on campaigning expenditure.”

Sarah Atkinson, director of policy and communications at the Charity Commission said: “We have listened to the views expressed about the administrative burden charities would face in detailing what they spend on campaigning.

“We always aim to strike the right balance in the annual return, ensuring it is manageable for charities whilst still collecting important information for our regulatory work, and for accountability to the public. We are working closely with users on the new format to make sure it is easy and intuitive for charities to use.”

The content of 2016’s annual return will remain “broadly the same” as that of 2015, the regulator said – although it will change information required of charities with an income above £500,000 to reflect the new Sorp.

Last year the Commission received criticism from umbrella bodies for saying it would review its requirement for charities to submit information on campaign spending.

At the time Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO said there was “no logic” to putting forward the same proposal in a year's time.

“Trying to put a meaningful single figure on campaigning will be as impossible then as it is now,” he said.

Peter Horner, policy officer at Navca, called the proposals "disproportionate and impractical".

"We will oppose any future plans to re-introduce the proposal on campaigning expenditure. This is a further attack on the independence of charities to freely campaign in a non-political way,” he said.

The new annual return forms part of the regulator’s Transform Investment Programme to improve charities’ and trustees’ access to its services. It is currently going through a “user testing” process to ensure the new format is accessible and easy to use, Atkinson said.

The regulator requires all registered charities in England and Wales to complete the annual return. Information provided is used by the Commission’s regulatory work and to populate charity details in the regulator’s online charity search function.

A test Beta version of the new annual return is planned for release at the beginning of 2016 for people to trial and give feedback.