The Philanthropy Review has decided not to disband following the publication of yesterday’s report, and will instead continue to meet and push for the implementation of its proposals.

Speaking at the launch of A call to action yesterday, Review chair Thomas Hughes-Hallett said this was “just the beginning”.

“Members of the Philanthropy Review board, myself included, have committed to pursuing our goals far beyond this launch.

“I think that is very telling, as we all committed last October to disband, but we’re so excited and think its so achievable that we’re absolutely determined to stay together to see it happen.”

Future activities

Late this year the Review will organise a ‘More Giving’ campaign, designed to encourage people to think about their giving and whether they could give more.

Meanwhile, on payroll giving, the Review board revealed that it is organising a meeting next week with business leaders to ask them to push payroll giving in their organisations.

With regard to the proposals for charity bank accounts to be introduced in high-street banks, Matthew Bowcock, a member of the Review board and chair of the Community Foundation Network, confirmed that management consultancy Accenture is working on a report looking at the feasibility of this from the perspective of banks.

He also said that CAF’s trustees had yesterday agreed to “put their weight quite firmly behind this proposal”.

CAF’s head of policy and public affairs Hannah Terrey later confirmed in a statement: “CAF are already taking steps to explore how we can make charitable bank accounts accessible to more people, building on our experience of offering charity accounts, and hope to continue working with the Philanthropy Review to find the best way to make this possible.”

Warm welcome

Speaking at the event, minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude said he “warmly welcomed” the proposals and said the government was keen to look at whether and how it could implement them.

He added that Justine Greening, the economic secretary to the Treasury, was keen to meet with the Review board, although he warned that she would be bound by the country’s financial circumstances.

Maude was positive on the proposal that companies should be required to report on what percentage of their staff is signed up to payroll giving, saying: “One is always reluctant to impose additional reporting burdens on companies but this one is a relatively simple one.”

He added that the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation will be consulting on revisions to the company reporting framework soon and would consider the proposal.

The main proposals

Making it easier for people to give

• Business leaders to push payroll giving in their organisations and companies to be required to state in annual accounts how many of their staff are enrolled in their scheme.
• High street banks to set up tax-effective charity bank accounts similar to those offered by the likes of CAF and Stewardship. 
• Current £5,000 cap on gift aid reclaimed from small cash donations to be increased to £50,000.

Encouraging people to give

• Introduction of living legacies, which the Review says could generate £400m a year.
• Tax reliefs to be introduced on the donation of all assets, including the likes of jewellery, paintings and antiques.
• A simple tax deduction on cash donations from high net worth donors as an alternative to the complex and poorly-understood gift aid rebate.

Changing the culture of giving

• Government, charities and third parties to work to improve the evidence-base for UK philanthropy.
• Government to invest £1m a year in its planned match fund for education in schools on the subject of giving.
• A ‘Give More’ campaign to encourage people to think about what they give and whether they could give more.