Most respondents to a consultation have backed Charity Commission guidance on the role of the trustee, the regulator said in an analysis published today.

The Commission consulted between November and February on a replacement for its existing guidance, The Essential Trustee (CC3).

The Commission said the consultation received 114 responses, of which 53 said the guidance was an improvement on the previous version, but 12 said they preferred the previous one. Not all respondents answered every question.

However umbrella bodies including NCVO, the Charity Finance Group and the Association of Charitable Foundations, were last month highly critical of the guidance, saying it was “excessively prescriptive”, would “inhibit action and innovation”, and left too much space for “regulatory creep”.

“Overall the support for the new approach was strong; many respondents also emphasised how much they value the current version,” the Commission said in a consultation analysis published today.

Sixty three respondents said the new explanation of trustees’ duties was clear, and nine said it was mostly clear, while 13 said it was not clear.

The Commission said it would take into account “concerns expressed by some respondents including sector umbrella bodies and advisers” and develop a final version of the guidance for publication in the summer.

Jane Hobson, head of policy at the Charity Commission, said: “It is clear that the revised approach is overwhelmingly welcomed by the people for whom it is designed - trustees.

“We have published an innovative visual analysis which provides an overview of consultation responses and explains how well the guidance has been received. We hope that readers find this helpful.

We are now considering the helpful and constructive feedback we have received, before publishing the final version later this year.”