The Charity Commission received its highest-ever number of applications for charitable status, according to its recently published annual report and accounts.
In the year to March 2024, the regulator received 9,008 applications to register a charity, compared with 8,583 in 2022-23.
“This represents a record number of applications for charitable status, continuing a trend that has been encouraged by cost-of-living challenges and international instability,” the report states.
The Commission said it has trialled specialist support provision for those who call about an application due to this demand.
Overall, 54% of applications were registered as charities, up from 48% in 2022-23.
The report shows that at 31 March 2024, there were 170,056 charities on the register.
In 2023-24, the Commission regulated £96bn of charity income (2022-23: £88bn) and £94bn of charity spend (2022-23: £85bn).
Rise in whistleblowing, serious incidents and inquiries
The Commission reported a rise in whistleblowing, serious incident reports and regulatory concern cases.
It assessed 3,106 new serious incident reports last year, compared to 2,969 in 2022-23, and received 561 whistleblowing reports, compared to 301 the year before.
The regulator said it has continued to work with whistleblowing charity Protect, which provides a helpline giving support and guidance, enabling it to report wrongdoing in charities to the relevant authorities.
In 2023-24, the Commission concluded 3,710 regulatory concern cases, compared to 2,971 in 2022-23.
“This number has increased primarily due to a higher number of complaints that underwent our initial assessment process,” the report reads.
It concluded 65 statutory inquiries (down from 68 in 2022-23) and opened 89 new inquiries, compared to 72 in 2022-23.
“This increase in inquiries opened reflects our strong focus on prioritising action in tackling the most serious cases of wrongdoing and harm,” it said.
The Commission used its powers to promote compliance with charitable law 2,189 times (down from 2,401 in 2022-23).
“This decrease is driven by a reduction in the use of information-gathering powers, due to a change in the overall type of inquiry work completed,” it said.
The Commission reported an increase in the use of its powers to prevent and sanction wrongdoing and harm.
Indeed, the regulator issued a charity with an official warning on 39 occasions (11 in 2022-23) and disqualified a trustee 34 times (11 in 2022-23).
Trust and confidence in charities
The report also quotes new research on public trust in charities.
In 2024, overall trust and confidence in charities among the public rose to 6.5 out of 10 from 6.3 in 2023.
The research shows that this is against a background of declining trust in many social institutions, by comparison to which, trust in charities appears to have improved.
Charities are the second most trusted social institution in the survey (with doctors being the most trusted).
“This is a significant recovery from 2018, where charities were only the fifth most trusted, scoring below the ordinary man or woman on the street,” the report says.
The proportion of trustees surveyed in 2024 who were confident in the Commission dealing with instances of wrongdoing and harm effectively, once these have been brought to its attention, was 92% (decreased from 95% in 2023).
In 2024, over three-quarters of the public thought that a charity is more likely to be making an impact (79%), ensuring that a high proportion of donations are spent directly on the cause (81%), and operating ethically (81%) if it is registered and regulated by the Commission.
Meanwhile, 47% of the public said that they had heard of the Commission and 19% said they knew it very or fairly well. This compares with 48% and 17%, respectively, in 2023.
New system for trustees led to delays
In 2023-24, the regulator implemented its My Charity Commission Account, through which charities access online services.
By the end of the year, 144,895 registered charities had enrolled a user to the system.
However, during the transition, technical issues experienced by some charities led to a “significantly higher volume of incoming queries” to its contact centre than is typical.
It answered 111,870 calls in 2023-24 compared to 68,497 in 2022-23.
This led to the average call wait time for the contact centre increasing to 18 minutes and 12 seconds.
In 2023-24, it answered 64% of all calls and 26% of calls within 120 seconds, while in 2022-23 it answered 95% of all calls and 79% of calls within 120 seconds;
Staff with protected characteristics leave the regulator
In 2023-24, the Commission had a revenue budget of £32.25m, largely funded by HM Treasury, and spent £32.18m.
The regulator had 488 staff on payroll as of 31 March 2024 (including eight board members), which is a decrease from 511 the year before.
It reported an increase in staff who said they were satisfied with their pay from 17% in 2022 to 43% in 2023.
Turnover has increased to 15.2% from 13.8% at the end of last year.
Of its 71 leavers, seven were dismissed and 17 came to the end of their fixed-term contracts.
Those identifying as disabled dropped from 14% to 6% while those who are from Black or minority ethnic backgrounds dropped from 9.2% to 5%.
“The figures portray a decrease in the proportion of staff with disabilities and from ethnic minority backgrounds,” its report says.
“These figures are based on self-declarations on our HR database – in both instances there remains a significant number of ‘undeclared’ or ‘prefer not to say’ responses.
“The reported decrease is primarily due to the departure of staff with these protected characteristics.”
In 2023, its median gender pay gap was 0.4%, down from 2.8% in 2022, which the regulator said is one of the lowest gaps across the civil service.
Its median bonus gender gap was 8.4%, up from 2.6% in 2022. While more women than men received a bonus, men received a 4% higher bonus amount on average.
‘Much change ahead’
Orlando Fraser, chair of the Commission writes in the forward: “Much has shifted for the sector, and the Commission over the past 12 months, and there is no doubt much change ahead – social, political, cultural.
“But I am certain that charities’ role in our society will only continue to grow. Charities are, and will remain, at the beating heart of every community across England and Wales.
“Their success rests not least on effective regulation that upholds and promotes public trust and support for charities. I know we have risen to that challenge this year, and am confident we will again, in the year ahead.”
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