The Charity Finance Group and Acevo have criticised the latest proposals for charities to pay towards the Charity Commission.
William Shawcross, chair, and Paula Sussex, chief executive, of the Commission told the All Party Parliamentary Group on Charities and Volunteering earlier this week that a formal consultation would start early next year.
Shawcross said that it was common practice in many other sectors and that the Commission is struggling to fullfil its duties on its government funding. He said his ideal would be that the regulator was entirely funded by the sector.
In an article for Civil Society’s Voices section, Andrew O’Brien, head of policy and engagement at the Charity Finance Group, said it was wrong to present the charging for regulation as ineveitable.
He said: “Charging for charity regulation isn’t inevitable. No good reasons have been put forward for charging so far, only contexts.
“At a time when we need to convince the public that regulation is robust and credible, charging is a threat to our sector with no obvious gains.
"Charging is also very inefficient. A grant from the government is far more efficient than the Charity Commission having to develop a charging framework, collect charges and then chase people up that don’t pay."
Acevo: ‘unprincipled and unacceptable’
Meanwhile Acevo issued a statement saying the proposal is “unprincipled and unacceptable”.
Interim chief executive, Asheem Singh, said: “The Charity Commission, despite overwhelming, principled opposition, seems determined to cannibalise further the charitable donations of the British people and ensure that as little as possible goes to the front line.
“The last thing that the public wants is for their hard earned donations to be spent on more administrative staff on civil service salaries working for Mr William Shawcross.
“People do not give generously to charity in order to fund work that should properly be paid for by government.
“Charities have in the last year been asked to pay for a fundraising regulator. Now a second, broader regulator wants their slice of the pie. It is unprincipled and unacceptable at a time when charities are beset by challenges, financial and social, in all directions.
“The Charity Commission should be focused on rebuilding its relationships and trust with the sector, rather than launching an attempt to charge charities for seeking the support and guidance they need to better help their beneficiaries. The voice of Acevo members will be very clear on this point during the consultation period.”
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