Fiona Ellis has stepped up to become chair of the Funding Commission following the resignation of Rachel Lomax who has quit with immediate effect, citing increased pressure from her commitments elsewhere.

The Commission has extended its target for publishing its final report until the end of the year.

Fiona Ellis (pictured), former director of the Northern Rock Foundation and a Charity Awards judge, was a member of the Funding Commission before becoming its chair.

The Commission is expected to complete its work in the autumn and issue its report and recommendations in early December – a year later than it originally planned.

The Commission was set up by the NCVO early last year with a remit to map the various funding streams available to the voluntary sector and investigate whether they could be made more effective or new ones created.

Lomax, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England and a former vice president and chief of staff to the president of the World Bank, was appointed as chair and told Civil Society at the time that the Commission’s work would set the funding agenda for the sector right up to 2020.