Many charity trustees "don't understand their basic duties", the Charity Commission's policy head told a conference today.

Sarah Atkinson, head of policy and communications at the Commission, also said the Commission will not hold charities’ hands and provide bespoke support to trustees, and will not have a “cosy” relationship with the sector.

Speaking in London today at a Westminster Policy Forum seminar on charity law and regulation, Atkinson also said the Charity Commission will “never focus exclusively on finding and disrupting the bad guys” and will keep supporting charities which need help.

She said the Commission was planning to “get tougher on the minority who put their charities at serious risk, and better at seeing them coming” but that a great challenge over the next few years was ensuring that the Commission also kept helping “the majority do their best”.

The Commission has recently been criticised by umbrella bodies for focusing too much on regulation, rather than providing guidance. However Atkinson said she believed the Commission was getting “smarter, more creative and more innovative” in its guidance for trustees.

She said: “I am proud of the quality of guidance we provide for charities. I think we do a great job with limited resources. But the fact that we see the same problems occurring again and again in charities – poor financial controls, poor decision-making – tells us that too many trustees don’t understand their basic duties. We have to change that.”

Atkinson also said she did not fear criticisms from sector leaders.

“I am convinced of the need for a strong, constructive relationship between the Commission and the charities we regulate,” she said. “We have to consult widely on changes that affect charities and we must always listen to and consider carefully charities’ representations.

"But our relationship with the sector should never be cosy. We are the sector’s regulator, not its defender or champion. So I don’t fear occasional criticism from charities – in fact, if charities never complained about us, I would worry we were doing something wrong.”

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