The Church Mission Society and Manchester Grammar School are among the first dozen charities to be checked by the Charity Commission for public benefit.

As well as assessing whether the individual charities meet the public benefit requirement, the work will be used by the Commission to identify wider themes and points of interest generally for the sector.

The first programme of assessments will look at three groups of charities; independent schools, religious charities and fee-charging residential care charities.

The first two groups have been chosen because they were two of the categories of charity which were presumed to be for the public benefit before the changes made by the Charities Act 2006.

High level of public interest

The third category for which there was previously a presumption, charities for the relief of poverty, is not being explored because the Commission has less concern about them meeting the public benefit requirement. Fee-charging residential care charities have been selected because of the high level of public interest in this category.

As well as Church Mission Society, the other religious charities to be assessed are United Christian Broadcasters, London Sri Murugan Temple and Tara Mahayana Buddhist Centre.

United Christian Broadcasters company secretary Richard Willoughby welcomed the news of the charity's selection as guinea pig. "All charities, ourselves included, should be able to demosntrate that they are delivering public benefit. We look forward to learning as much as we can from this process," he said.

The fee-charging residential care home charities selected are Cornwall Old People’s Housing, Penylan House, Jewish Retirement and Nursing Home and the Rest Bay Convalescent Hotel.

Manor House School, Pangbourne College, St Anselm’s School, and Highfield Priory School will be assessed along with Manchester Grammar (pictured).

Wide range of charities

When selecting the 12 charities the Commission tried to ensure that the range of charities within each group were sufficiently different, geographically spread, and had varying income levels, and for fee-charging charities there was also a mix of numbers of users, methods of access and fees charged.

The Commission has communicated with the participating charities and provided them with information on the assessment process, which will have three phases: information gathering, analysis of the evidence and a report on findings expected next Spring.

Summary of responses published

The Commission has also published on its website the summaries of the responses to its recent consultations on draft supplementary public benefit guidance on the advancement of religion; the prevention or relief of poverty; the advancement of education, and fee-charging.

The Commission received a total of 675 responses and the summaries reveal that while respondents were generally positive about the Commission’s approach, some thought the guidance could have been simpler and shorter.

A number of respondents wanted to see specific guidance aimed at charitable independent schools, while others were concerned that the fee-charging guidance had been hijacked by issues pertaining to such schools. There were also arguments that the guidance is directed towards ‘social engineering’, or fulfilling a political agenda, rather than promoting awareness and understanding of charity law.

Challenges to legal basis of fee-charging guidance

Significant challenges were made, including by the Charity Law Association and the Independent Schools Council, as to the legal basis of the fee-charging guidance. They questioned the Commission’s role with regard to interpreting the law on public benefit and issuing guidance, and whether the Commission should produce guidance on fee-charging at all, given that it is not linked to any particular charitable purpose.

Respondents to the religious consultation were concerned about the distinction made between the religious and the pastoral or secular work of charities advancing religion. Many commented that it is difficult to make such a distinction. Some also expressed concerns that charities advancing religion might be required to undertake secular work in order to meet the public benefit requirement, or that only the benefits of secular work might be taken into account in any assessment of public benefit.

Final revised supplementary guidance will be published at the end of 2008 and will complement the general public benefit guidance for all charities, which was published in January 2008. An additional consultation on the advancement of moral or ethical belief systems is under way while further guidance on other charitable purposes, such as animal welfare and human rights, will follow. All charities are required to start reporting on the public benefit they provide from 31 March 2009.

PASC committee to hear final evidence from Commission

Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather; chief executive Andrew Hind; executive director of policy and effectiveness Rosie Chapman; and Kenneth Dibble, executive director of legal and compliance, are making an appearance in front of the Public Administration Select Committee tomorrow, as PASC concludes its examination of the public benefit issue.

Full details of the assessment process and copies of the summaries of responses are published today at www.charitycommission.gov.uk.