The Charity Commission has set out an “ambitious” plan to meet new performance standards, as it publishes its annual report.
The regulator’s annual report for the year to March 2020 was laid before parliament and published online earlier this week. The Commission has also set out its plans for the year ahead.
The annual report states that the Charity Commission saw an increase in the volume of its casework, but was also making progress in responding to issues more quickly.
The Commission also published a business plan for 2020-21, and for the first time set performance standards such as answering the phone within two minutes. It will report back on these next year.
Record number of registration decisions
In a blogpost on the Commission’s website, Helen Stephenson, chief executive, said: “I am proud of the significant progress my teams have made in our operational efficiency and effectiveness.
“We reduced the total volume of ‘queued’ casework by 80%, despite increasing demand during the year.
“We decided a record 9,391 registration applications, and supported an extra 6,000 charities by answering 12,000 more calls, having invested in increasing our contact centre’s capacity.”
The regulator's report says that 60% of applications resulted in the successful registration of a charity. The Commission makes decisions in less than 30 days for 92% of lower risk applications. On average, and excluding the highest risk applications, it makes decisions within 57 days.
At the end of the year there were 168,033 registered charities. Just over 6,000 were removed during the year.
The Commission's contact centre answered nearly 70,000 calls and helped more than 30,000 charities.
Regulation and compliance
The Commission carried out more investigatory work this year than last year.
It received 5,730 serious incident reports. This is up from 3,895 last year. The regulator says that a new online form made it easier to report incidents.
Whistleblowing reports increased from 185 to 247. During the year the Commission launched a new service with whistleblowing charity Protect.
The Commission concluded 181 statutory inquiries, compared to 155 last year. It used its regulatory powers 1,962 times (2018-19: 1,864).
Budget and staff
The Commission’s budget for the year was £29m, funded largely by a Treasury grant. It stayed within its spending limits.
It employed 421 people, a slight increase from last year (406) and significantly up on 2018 when it had 305 employees.
Plans for 2020-21
The regulator’s business plan sets out its strategic priorities, and says that it aims to become “a more confident regulator, giving voice to the issues which we know are of public concern”.
The Commission also commits to being more proactive in identifying any potential problems at voluntary organisations, and will focus “on the most high-risk issues”.
The regulator has set its two key priorities as being more transparent and available to charities and the public, and aligning its day to day work with its strategic goals.
As part of this plan, the regulator “will have ensured that [casework] backlogs are eradicated” by the end of 2020-21, will roll out a new IT system to help staff coordinate casework “to look into matters of potential concern”, and will have started work to provide new digital services for charity trustees.
Performance standards
The Commission says that because it has made progress on getting “the basics right” and has dealt with its historic backlog, it is able to set out operational performance standards to be measured against from this year onwards.
This includes answering the phone within two minutes, respond to written enquiries within two days, and publishing more details about its work.
In the blogpost, Stephenson says: “These operational standards, which we will report on annually, provide a simpler and clearer picture of the timeliness, quality and effectiveness of our work. They offer more information to ensure the public can see how, each year, the Commission is fulfilling its obligations to protect the public interest and the beneficiaries of charities.
“This is an ambitious plan. It requires the continuous commitment of our hard-working staff, of which I am confident, and ongoing flexibility as we adapt it to the unforeseen circumstances of Covid-19.”
The regulator's full commitments are below:
Our operational standards from 2020-1
- If you need to contact us by phone, we aim to answer within 120 seconds, to understand your circumstances and offer clear advice and guidance. Our contact centre is available to answer your questions between 9:00am and 5pm (Monday to Friday). This year, we anticipate answering the vast majority of calls we receive within two minutes. We will publish the volume of calls received and the percentage answered in two minutes in our annual report for 2020-21.
- We aim to acknowledge all written enquiries to the Commission within two working days and start work on our initial assessment. This year, we anticipate answering the vast majority of written enquiries to the Commission within two working days. We will publish the volume of enquiries received and the percentage acknowledged in two working days in our annual report for 2020-21.
- We aim to assess and provide an initial response to applications for registration, permissions and requests for advice within 10 working days. We will be honest about how long we think our work will take. If we think we will take longer than anticipated, we will explain why and set out any additional information we require from you. This year, we anticipate assessing the vast majority of applications within 10 working days. We will publish the volume of applications received and the percentage provided with initial advice in 10 working days in our annual report for 2020-21.
- We aim to decide registration, permission and advice requests within 30 working days. We will keep you updated on our progress with your request and share why cases take longer than this, typically because they involve complex legal or financial matters. This year, we anticipate deciding the vast majority of applications within 30 working days. We will publish the volume of applications received and the percentage decided in 30 working days in our annual report for 2020-21.
- We would like every charity on the register to comply with the requirement to provide an up to date annual return, and, in 2020-21 we intend to reduce the number of charities without an up to date annual return on the register. In our annual report for 2020-21, we will publish the number and percentage of charities that filed an annual return on time.
- We will track and report the use of our powers in order to promote compliance with charitable law. In our annual report for 2020-21, we will publish the occasions we used a power in our regulatory cases or investigations.
- We will publish key findings from customer surveys we complete to test satisfaction with our key operational and digital services. Our annual report for 2020-21 will include the findings from regular surveys of those who use our operational services (for example our contact centre and digital services).
- We aim to investigate and provide a response to complaints about the Charity Commission within 30 working days. We will keep you updated on our progress with your request and share why cases take longer than this, typically because they involve complex legal or financial matters. This year, we anticipate managing the vast majority of complaints made about our work within 30 working days. We will publish the volume of applications received and the percentage decided in 30 working days in our annual report for 2020-21.
- We aim to respond to freedom of information requests and letters from members of Parliament within 20 days. In our annual report for 2020-21 we will publish the volume of freedom of information requests and MP letters received and the percentage responded to within 20 days.
Additional reporting by Russell Hargrave
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