The Scottish Daily Mail has published an investigation claiming that charities are “squandering” public funding and that tighter rules are needed to prevent charities becoming a "front for a political party".
Members of the Scottish Parliament have backed the Mail's call for tighter legislation to limit lobbying.
Yesterday the Scottish Mail published a six-page investigation into how £3bn of public money is spent by charities in Scotland. It criticises high chief executive pay and says money has been “squandered” on “meaningless” projects, some of which are too close to the policies of the Scottish National Party.
Examples of these projects included production of a safer sex phrase book in other languages, activities for members of the gay and transgender communities and projects to promote the Gaelic language.
The investigation also found examples of a charity investing in tobacco companies, at the same time as running an anti-smoking campaign.
A Daily Mail comment piece said: “Instead of committed volunteer individuals working for charities struggling against the odds to improve the lot of others, we expose fat-cat bosses on six-figure salaries and with gold-plated pension schemes. And there is a shadowy world of charities that exist only because they are bankrolled by £3bn of taxpayers’ cash.”
It warned of the "corrosive effect" on "charities that still fit with our template of waht charities should be about: reliant on the goodwill of donors and staffed by volunteers".
It also said “so-called ‘sock-puppet’ charities are props for SNP policies” and that this is having a “corrosive effect” on “charities that still fit with our template of what charities should be about: reliant on the goodwill of donors and staffed by volunteers.”
It praised the Westminster government for introducing tighter rules around lobbying in new grant agreements and asked: “Why has no such prohibition been enforced here?”
The Mail said that its investigation has uncovered an "impression of a charity sector grown bloated on public subsidy". It said it is "time for a proper debate about charities' funding and their role".
Conservative MSP: ‘charities open to allegations of corruption’
In a comment piece published alongside the Mail’s investigation Annie Wells, an MSP and Scottish Conservative Party spokesman for equalities, also said it was “time for a debate” over how much public funding charities get and called for stricter rules for charities lobbying.
“In England, publicly funded organisations will be banned from attempting to persuade and win the favour of decision-makers in the House of Commons," she wrote.
“So far, the SNP has rejected a similar move, which leaves Scotland open to allegations of corruption – particularly if links are drawn between an organisation dependent on government funding which is also winning the ear of senior and influential ministers.”
She also described the Scottish charity regulator, OSCR, as “toothless and secretive” and said it was “slow to act” over a fundraising campaign which made a loss.
'A fine example of fake news creation'
A number of the charities mentioned in the article by the Scottish Daily Mail have issued statements in response to the article, with SCVO chief executive Martin Sime calling the piece a “fine example of fake news creation”.
In a statement issued yesterday, Sime said: “In a fine example of fake news creation SCVO was today singled out along with some other Scottish charities merely for doing the work we are here to do.
“Amid such desperate grasping for a news angle, we discovered that millions of pounds is spent on delivering charitable services in Scotland.
“And that was it – nothing that can’t be learnt by having a quick glance at the openly available annual accounts of the charities mentioned.”
Sime also said that the SCVO would never “let bullying and hate stop our work”.
The full version of SCVO’s response is available to read here.
A spokesman from OSCR, the Scottish charities regulator, said: “In our experience, the majority of charities that operate in Scotland have good governance. We want to reassure the public that the regulatory work we do with all Scottish charities makes donations safer.
“We have always been clear that charity trustees, who are ultimately responsible for their charities, must make sure that they are making decisions on expenditure and salaries properly. If anyone does have a concern about a Scottish charity, they can raise it with us using our online form.”
A spokeswoman for Community Safety Glasgow, whose chief executive, Phil Walker was named by the Scottish Daily Mail as “one of the highest-paid charity chiefs in Scotland”, defended Walker’s salary: “Mr Walker is the managing director of a sizeable service provider within the Glasgow City Council family. His salary is commensurate with the role and remit of his post.”
She also said the £9.1m pension fund figure cited in the article was “inaccurate”, and stressed that “CSG does not own or lease a yacht, nor does it have access to one”.
A spokesman for Victim Support Scotland, another of the charities named in the article, said it doesn’t “provide counselling services” as stated in the Scottish Daily Mail and said the organisation takes “data protection and privacy extremely seriously”.
Of the other named charities who have responded to Civil Society News’ request for a comment, a Project Scotland spokesman said the organisation was “happy for the SCVO comment” to speak for it.
Additional reporting by Hugh Radojev
Related Articles
