Charity accounting expert Don Bawtree has assembled an independent, cross-discipline ‘shadow Sorp committee’ that will scrutinise the new draft Sorp and sector responses to it, and produce its own assessment to inform the final version.

The official Sorp Committee is expected to issue the new Sorp for consultation imminently on behalf of the Charity Commission.

Bawtree, head of charities at BDO, said: “The new Charity Sorp is the most important change to charity reporting for a decade, and will have far-reaching effects on how charities report and how stakeholders perceive the sector.

“We are therefore delighted to announce the formation of an independent, cross-discipline committee established to contribute to the discussion over the forthcoming Sorp.”

Bawtree said that as most responses to the consultation will come from single-issue organisations, his new committee will provide the opportunity for a balanced response reflecting no single agenda. Members are therefore drawn from charities, professional advisers, commercial organisations, and academia.

As Scotland has a different regime, a separate group has been established by BDO in Scotland, who will liaise with the shadow committee. This is led by local senior BDO partner Martin Gill.

The shadow committee will issue an initial briefing on the draft Sorp and then invite responses – it asks that people responding to the consultation send a copy to the shadow committee as well as to the official committee.

Towards the end of the process, the shadow committee will issue a more complete assessment of their considerations, which they hope will help to shape the final Sorp. While this may refer to views expressed by correspondents, no comments will be made public or attributed.

Updates from the shadow committee will be hosted on civilsociety.co.uk and also on BDO’s site. BDO produced the definitive guide to the new UK standard FRS 102, and its team will provide technical support to the committee. This will also allow the committee to reflect on any key differences between the charity Sorp and those being developed for housing and education.

Members of the shadow committee are as follows:

• Don Bawtree, head of charities at BDO
• James Brooke Turner, finance director at the Nuffield Foundation
• Gary Carpenter, chief financial officer at Control Risks Group, and treasurer and a member of the audit committee of Tearfund
• Gareth Morgan, Professor of Charity Studies at Sheffield Hallam University
• Paul Bannon, finance director at Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland
• Charles Scott, executive director of corporate shared services at Action for Children
• Julian Smith, head of the higher education group at Farrer & Co

Readers that would like to contribute to the committee, either in England and Wales or Scotland, or would like to be more closely involved, can contact Bawtree direct at [email protected].