The Charity Commission has said it will consult on further changes to the annual return, after concerns were raised last week over a plan to make charities declare any funding from overseas.
As part of plans to combat terrorism, Amber Rudd, Home Secretary, announced that charities would be required to declare sources of funding from overseas.
In a written statement to Parliament she said: “The Charity Commission will be introducing a requirement on charities to declare overseas funding sources. The Commission has been discussing this issue with charities over recent months.”
The Commission appeared to say that this change would be implemented in its annual return form for 2017, with the next version due to be published shortly.
But the Charity Finance Group called for a public consultation. Caron Bradshaw, chief executive of CFG, said: “We have a number of concerns about how requiring charities to declare overseas sources of funding will give useful information to the Charity Commission and help law enforcement.”
And the Commission has now clarified it will be consulted on for inclusion in the 2018 reutrn.
Consultation to launch in the autumn
The Commission said that a consultation on specific questions, including the one about overseas funding sources, will launch in the autumn and any changes would not be made until the 2018 version of the annual return.
Charities that have taken part in user testing for the 2017 annual return have already had the opportunity to see the proposed new questions and offer feedback, but a wider consultation will now take place.
A Commission spokeswoman said “it is important that we give all stakeholders the opportunity to understand and make representations in relation to specific proposals and to raise any concerns on the practice and principles of any new questions, as well as any unintended consequence which may arise”.
She added that the Commission would not "introduce any new questions without consulting further and these specific changes will be explored further as part of a full consultation in the autumn. We will consider the results of this consultation carefully and will take them into account before reaching a decision on the inclusion of any proposed new questions in the annual return".
Andrew O'Brien, head of policy and engagement at CFG said he was pleased that the Commission was now planning a full consultation.
He said: “This is a welcome move by the Charity Commission and shows their willingness to engage with charities and get this right. Changes to the structure and content of the annual return will have a significant impact on the sector, particularly if they involve new or more detailed disclosures. It is critical that we only proceed once we have a clear rationale for any proposed changes and a thorough consultation to understand their impact."
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