Charity Commission chair Orlando Fraser has announced he will step down as chair of the regulator next year.
Speaking at the commission’s annual public meeting in London today, Fraser said he had agreed with culture secretary Lisa Nandy to “hand on the baton to a successor at the end of my term in April”.
Fraser, who was a commercial barrister for nearly 30 years, said he planned to “go back to the private sector” at the end of his three-year term at the commission.
Nandy said in response: “I am grateful to Orlando Fraser for his service to the Charity Commission as chair and board member, and for his work towards a fairer, balanced and independent Charity Commission.”
200 cases opened following Middle East escalation
In his final speech as chair, Fraser said the commission had opened more than 200 regulatory cases relating to public statements or alleged support for terrorist groups by charities since the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East in October 2023.
He said the commission has made over 40 referrals to the police in connection with such cases.
Fraser also referred to the commission’s recent action taken over the Captain Tom Foundation, Fashion for Relief, and Burke’s Peerage and the Mahfouz Foundation, which he said shows that “fame, celebrity and connections are no protection against the law or our regulatory oversight”.
He added: “Sometimes in a challenging case, as with Mermaids’ recently, the right regulatory approach has to be an intelligent balance of support and enforcement.
“Here we were publicly clear as to where they had got it wrong, and where they hadn’t – and used the opportunity to make it clear that we expected charities in this sensitive area to pay due regard to the conclusions of the authoritative Cass Review.”
Philanthropy ‘mission’
Fraser also said he had “made it a mission to encourage a new age of philanthropic giving in our country” and had taken steps towards this goal including by persuading philanthropist Rory Brooks to join the commission’s board.
“Support from successive governments on this issue means that philanthropy’s important role in our society’s success is increasingly more acknowledged, and less ignored,” he said.
He repeated his support for the contribution made by charitable think tanks of different perspectives “against critics who would silence them for ideological reasons, as well as speaking out in favour of the work of our international aid charities against their own ideological critics”.
And Fraser said the commission has been increasingly holding banks to account “for their often poor service to charities”.
“We continue to work with the financial services sector to help ensure that all charities have access to adequate banking services, with some signs of progress,” he said.
Fraser said trust in the charity sector is now at a 10-year high “and on an upward trajectory”.
Related articles
