Public trust in charities has risen since 2008, Charity Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather announced this morning.

Leather gave a sneak preview of the findings of the Commission’s biannual public trust and confidence survey in her opening address to Action Planning’s ‘Leading your charity through a time of change’ conference in Westminster this morning.

She said that 40 per cent of those polled gave charities a trust rating of eight out of ten or higher, which is up from 2008 when 35 per cent gave that high a score.

Leather also revealed that three-quarters of respondents said they trusted that charities act in the public interest, also an increase on 2008 figures.

New political status

She also said that the new government has put the sector at the heart of public service reform: “In political terms this sector has arrived.”

However, despite inflated trust in charities, spending cuts will be deep and charities will have to change their way of life.

“It’s questionable whether the voluntary and charity sector will be able to fill all the gaps left by the public service cuts," said Leather. She recommended charities should do much more collaboration: “This is not the time to be precious about names or brands or personalities.”

She also advised charities to make use of technology to cut costs.

Leather added that the Charity Commission will have lost 178 staff by March next year, a 30 per cent reduction over last six years, and said: “I am really concerned the Commission will not be able to continue to deliver services if there are further funding cuts.”