It’s a time of change for the Commission. We have a new chair, Geraldine Peacock, and chief executive, Andrew Hind (pictured). We remain a relatively small non-ministerial government department, but like all government departments we must use our resources more efficiently and strategically. There are also fundamental changes happening in the voluntary sector. In response we have undertaken a strategic review and have published our new vision – charity working at the heart of society, a new mission statement defining what we want to achieve, and new values that will shape the way we approach regulation. We have consulted widely on these.

Stakeholders rightly expect greater accountability and transparency from charities. The summary information return – part of our new annual return form – will help ensure that key information about larger charities (with annual incomes above £1m) is available and understood by donors and public alike.

The Commission believes that good governance can increase effectiveness where it really counts– delivering services to beneficiaries – and can also help charities to fulfil legal responsibilities. We have worked with a coalition of voluntary sector partners to help them develop a voluntary sector code of governance, launched by the Governance Hub (part of ChangeUp) in July.

And as part of the Year of the Volunteer, in partnership with Timebank, we have launched a campaign to encourage more people to become charity trustees.

Neal Green is a senior policy advisor at the Charity Commission