The Charity Commission will receive an extra £2.4m in 2020-21, following the chancellor's Spending Round announcement today.
The Spending Round documents were published this lunchtime after the chancellor, Sajid Javid, delivered a statement in Parliament. They reveal that the Commission’s budget will increase by 10 per cent from £24.9m to 27.3m.
It is the first time in over decade that the Commission has had its budget increased through a government spending review or budget process. But this is still far below the amount the Commission received before a series of budget cuts as part of austerity measures taken by the government.
The regulator's budget had been roughly halved in real terms from where it was in 2007-08, when it received £32.6m.
In 2015, that budget was frozen at around £20m a year. Last year the Commission secured an interim funding boost of just under £5m to help it meet increases in demand.
That additional funding was understood to be conditional on the Commission bringing forward plans to consult with charities about introducing levies on larger charities to help fund its work.
Helen Stephenson, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: “We are pleased that the government have rolled forward our existing budget, including the £4m increase agreed last year.
“We are delighted that they have also made a further small investment so we can continue to implement our strategy and make operational improvements whilst handling significant increases in demand. This acknowledges the value of the charity sector and our work to maximise the benefit of charity to society and to upholding its reputation in the eyes of the public.”
Youth Investment Fund
There were no other mentions of charity in the document. But Javid did praise a youth charity in his speech.
Javid told Parliament that he wanted to invest in youth centres and had tasked the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport with coming up with proposals for a Youth Investment Fund.
He said: “Earlier this year I visited the fantastic Onside Youth Zone in Barking… a brilliant example of how much Britain’s network of youth centres add to our communities. Getting young people off the streets and changing lives for the better.
“So today I’m asking DCMS to develop proposals for a new Youth Investment Fund… and to set out plans to build more youth centres, refurbish existing centres, and deliver high quality services to young people across the country.”
There were no further details on the fund in Javid's speech. DCMS said it could not answer these questions and referred us to the Treasury. The Treasury told Civil Society News that the size of the fund had not been decided and that future updates would come from DCMS.
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