Shadow minister for the Cabinet Office Tessa Jowell has admitted some small charities collapsed because of the excessive regulation required to access public money under the Labour government over the last decade.

Jowell was speaking at a parliamentary reception last night organised by NCVO on the Big Society, one year on, where she was asked if the Labour government had made any mistakes with the charity sector during its time in power.

Jowell said the Labour government had made some mistakes in public policy: “Small charities did collapse under the regulatory environment to get public money,” she admitted.

But she added that regulation was developed and shaped by circumstances at the time, commenting particularly on CRB checks:

“CRB checks are now laughed at," she said. “But at the time of the Soham murders which prompted CRB checks, it was an instinctive reaction. It was wrong not to respond and was proportionate at the time and in tune with public need.”