An independent review of the Charity Commission’s governance structure, aimed at addressing perceptions of political bias in the regulator’s work, has been announced today by NCVO.
In a blog published today, Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, said that changes to the board structure had been introduced in the Charities Act 2006 in order to widen the pool of potential commissioners.
“Subsequent boards, and particularly chairs, have been subject to the accusation that as appointees of the government of the day they are in some way politically biased,” he wrote. “One does not have to accept that these accusations have any merit in order to see that they can be damaging.”
Etherington said the potential perception of bias was even more important following the announcement of additional powers for the Commission in a draft Protection of Charities Bill.
“Our aim is to find ways to make sure the regulator can put questions about its political neutrality to rest for good. We want to ensure that the Commission can never again be accused of political bias in its work.”
He said NCVO is already examining other funding options for the Commission, as announced by Paula Sussex, chief executive of the regulator, at the Charity Finance Summit earlier this month. The two issues are closely connected, he said.
“Questions of governance go hand-in-hand with the issue of the Commission’s funding,” Etherington wrote. “Any funding mechanism for the Commission, including the current one, has the potential to raise questions about the Commission’s independence from government or from the charities it regulates.”
He also said he wanted to emphasise “that this is in no way a criticism of the Commission’s current board or staff” who he said were constrained by structures imposed on them by central government.
The governance review will be conducted by NCVO, together with a small group of external advisers with relevant expertise, and will conclude next summer, he said.
“Our review will consider how the Commission’s governance is structured, including its relationship with government, the appointment process for board members, and the respective remits of the board and the executive,” he said.
“We are particularly keen to compare how other regulators are structured and administered and see what there is to learn from existing alternative models.”
The review is launched independently of the Commission and NCVO says it has not been asked to carry out scrutiny by anyone at the regulator.
A Commission spokeswoman said her organisation was aware of the review and will await further details. “But ultimately the Commission’s governance framework is set out in the Charities Act and by Cabinet Office,” she said.
Lobbying Act review
Sir Stuart also announced that NCVO will “review the broader environment for campaigning” in the charity sector, following the general election.
“We will consider the consequences of the Lobbying Act, as well as looking at the regulation of campaigning more broadly, drawing on international comparisons,” he said. “We intend to launch this work following the general election in order to draw fully on the experiences of members during the regulated period of the Lobbying Act.”
