The government has committed to look into the possibility of a system of fines for charities that file their accounts late.
It said it welcomed PASC’s endorsement of Lord Hodgson’s recommendation that the Charity Commission should be able to fine charities that file late returns, and said it would explore with the Commission the scope for such a system, “giving due consideration to the practical difficulties of such a system both for the Commission and charities concerned”.
The primary motivation for any such system would be improve compliance rather than to generate funds, it added.
However, it also agreed with PASC that the Commission should not charge charities for new registrations or for filing their returns. “There are no plans to introduce charging,” it said. “Any such plans would be subject to full consultation with the charity sector.”
Trustee remuneration
The government decided to maintain the status quo in relation to paying trustees, but will monitor the number of applications the Charity Commission receives from charities wishing to pay their trustees, and the number it grants and refuses.
As expected, the government agreed with the PASC that the voluntary principle of trusteeship is central to the whole ethos of the charitable sector and that the existing rules on remuneration are adequate for the few cases where payment is appropriate.
In order to increase levels of trusteeship, the government said it would work with the Commission and umbrella bodies to promote charity trustee vacancies through online portals, and said it would welcome sector-led consolidation towards a single trustee vacancy portal in future.
Registration threshold
Lord Hodgson’s proposal to raise the threshold for compulsory registration to £25,000 was rejected too. “The clear message from the charity sector is that registration should be required of small charities to help protect the reputation of the charity sector as a whole,” the government said.
Increase income threshold for full audit
Government also said it partially supports a recommendation from Lord Hodgson to increase the income threshold for a full audit from £500,000 to £1m. It will consult on this proposal, but said its preference will be to retain but increase the assets threshold, as it believes that charities that have significant assets shoudl be subject to a full audit even where their income is low.
Charity ombudsman
The government agreed with the PASC that a charity ombudsman would be a disproportionate and unaffordable response to complaints about the way that charities treat their employees, trustees or volunteers.
Progress report in one year
The government pledged to report back to both Lord Hodgson and PASC in a year’s time on progress made in implementing the recommendations that it has accepted.
