The Charity Commission chair has promised no “immediate” cut to wait times experienced by sector organisations seeking support despite a government funding uplift.
Julia Unwin, speaking yesterday at the commission’s annual public meeting, said the regulator could not guarantee short-term wait time cuts to assess concerns or register applicants.
However, she stated that the 25% government funding increase would help the commission to modernise and be equipped for the future.
Unwin said: “The focus is on upgrading and improving our services in five core areas, from registrations through to how we handle complaints about charities.
“Just in the same way that some of the financial regulators are making the UK a safe place in which to invest, we want the UK to be a safe place in which to give.”
The commission chair cited a record year of charity registration applications, over 11,700, a 23% increase in regulatory compliance cases, and a 7% increase in cases involving requests for the exercise of its regulatory authority.
Also speaking at the event, commission chair David Holdsworth said: “It will help us keep pace, but it won’t help us deal [with it] if volumes continue to increase.
“In complaints against the charity year-on-year, we have now seen a 50-70% increase.
“That’s a sign of both public expectation, the level of service from charities, but it’s also because demand on charities is increased at a time when funding has plateaued.”
Princess Anne: Commission’s job now more difficult
Princess Anne, speaking before Unwin as event keynote, said that trust was key to charities’ impact.
“I wonder if that’s not the biggest challenge today for the charitable sector, is maintaining that level of trust.
“Part of the role [of the commission] is maintaining that level of trust and is an administrative system and legal requirement that maintains the trust in a set of individuals or an idea.”
A patron of many charities, Princess Anne also spoke about the challenges posed by rapidly changing technology putting pressure on volunteers, chairs and trustees to adapt quickly.
“I do think that the Charity Commission’s job has become considerably more difficult in the passage of time – the sheer weight of numbers, [and] the level of information [it now has to deal with].”
In her speech, Unwin maintained that trust in charities compared to other institutions “remains high” and was a critical asset to the sector.
“People continue to see charities as a vehicle through which to protect what matters and achieve positive change.
“This is a remarkable achievement and a precious treasure.”
‘Deliberate intention’ to undermine sector
Also at the event, Jane Ide, CEO of support body ACEVO, said that she has felt a shift towards greater, and targeted, hostility towards the sector.
“Charity has always worked in contested spaces […] but there’s more of a deliberate coordinated intent to undermine what charity stands for,” Ide said as part of a panel.
Immigration, refugee and anti-racism charities in particular have had “very direct focused attack[s] on them”, Ide added.
“There is a very deliberate intention to undermine what civil society stands for […] that means we must have some power in the world.”
Last week, a DSC event heard that the charities were increasingly subject to “vexatious” complaints, weaponised to drain resources.
