Payment of trustees is coming whether we like it or not, according to president of NCVO, Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbott.

Speaking yesterday on a panel debate at the Charity Commission annual public meeting, Lord Hodgson (pictured) responded to concerns from the audience that a new lighter-touch Charity Commission would put more pressure on trustees and lead to calls for remuneration.

The whole panel, which included Tory peer Lord Hodgson, Labour peer Lord Smith of Finsbury, and Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Tyler of Enfield, all agreed some form of trustee payment could be necessary in the future.

Lord Hodgson said: "I believe it’s going to come.

“We have situations where the chief executive's pay is £150,000 and trustees are thinking ‘I supervise him for nothing’. It is an issue of risk and reward,” he said.

He added that the Red Tape Taskforce, a group he chaired which looked at reducing bureaucracy in the charity sector, had asked stakeholders about relaxing rules on paying trustees and found a 50/50 split in opinion:

“So we didn’t make the recommendation,” he said. “We ran away from it. But I do believe it’s coming whether we like it or not. And we’ll need to make sure it’s declared and transparent.”

Baroness Tyler of Enfield, chief executive of Relate, was more tempered in her view, but did say that expecting people to give more time and expertise for free in the future could hinder inclusivity:

“If it’s only people with time and money who can volunteer as trustees without recompense, then we won’t have a diverse trustee board. Maybe we will need honorarium payments in the future.”

And Lord Smith of Finsbury said it would need to be handled with care, but “it might have to come”.

He added: "It's not right or necessary to pay trustees of small, community charities, but it is probably now needed for large ones."