Nick Brooks, chairman of the ICAEW charity and voluntary sector group, has disagreed with Lord Hodgson’s view that the Charity Commission should be “a regulator not a friend” to the charity sector.

Lord Hodgson told delegates at last week’s ICAEW charity conference that the Charity Commission giving guidance all the time was effectively creating new regulation and the sector couldn’t be micro-managed.

“The Charity Commission is a regulator not a friend,” he said. “Charities should be told ‘here is the law, use your judgement’, not have the Charity Commission interpret it for them.”

When pressed on the point later in the conference he said it was “an abdication of responsibility” when trustees called the Charity Commission for advice.

He also said he heard that some were taking advice from the Charity Commission and passing it on to other charities for a fee.

Nick Brooks, chairman of the ICAEW charity and voluntary sector group, said he was not convinced that an ‘either/or’ approach is correct for the Charity Commission. “Charities are run by volunteers. Unlike businesses, a charity is run by part-time people who need support to ensure they do the right thing. In our evidence to the Charities Act review, we strongly recommended a hybrid model where the Commission should provide sectorial guidance.

“Such a model would take the over-arching legislation and break it down with specific emphasis on various sectorial requirements. Ultimately, regulation needs to be clear so that trustees can easily understand rules and act accordingly. All too often complex regulation leads to a lack of clarity.”