Dorothy Dalton suggests that it is time for the Charity Commission's board to be less hands-on and to ensure its online guidance gives top-notch advice.

As Paula Sussex, the new chief executive at the Charity Commission settles in to her new role, it is a good time to reflect on the Commission’s direction of travel.

The Charity Commission is, and has been for several years, in a very difficult place. Desperately under-funded and trying to respond to criticisms in the media and to critical National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee reports, it has significantly increased the number of inquiries and investigations opened and the number of trustees removed and/or charities closed.

The Commission has become a tougher regulator. This is to be welcomed as long as the Commission gets the balance right between regulation and advice.

Most trustees and most boards of trustees are honest volunteers trying to do their best for their charity but who from time to time might get it wrong. When they do, they should feel able to admit failings to the regulator and ask for help without fearing that the Commission will come down on them like a ton of bricks.

It is therefore reassuring to hear William Shawcross, chair of the Commission, say: “Deliberate abuse in charities is not the norm. For every trustee who commits abuse there are a thousand whose intentions are good. They make mistakes but these are rarely venal.”

With fewer opportunities for direct contact with the Commission staff, the quality of online guidance is vital whether the guidance comes through formal guidance reports or through operational case reports.

The board of the Commission, which has been rather ‘hands-on’, now needs to step back into a much more strategic role and should be able to articulate a powerful case for an increase in its funding, with the added reassurance that it has the support of the sector in its battle to be properly resourced.