Charity Commission Gets More Pro-active

In recent months, we have seen significant reporting of an increasingly pro-active stance by the Charity Commission towards regulatory oversight of charities. In general, this is to be welcomed, and indeed some important cases of charity mismanagement have been brought to light.

A feeling exists that somehow small charities will avoid the Commission’s spotlight. I believe this to be incorrect. A number of charities investigated by the Commission this year have been quite small, and the Commission has been at pains to point out that small charities are not excused from complying with regulations, existing or future. For example, I received at the end of last month a circular from the Commission, advising charities – irrespective of size – of the need to comply with the forthcoming EHRC Code of Practice within the Equality Act 2010.

A more general note of advice was offered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in June, reminding small charities that the legal duties and responsibilities of trustees are fundamentally the same for a charity with a bank balance of £5,000 or one with a bank balance of £50 million.

We are all conscious that Trustees are volunteers – and that good Trustees are very hard to recruit, despite organisations such as the Royal Voluntary Society’s GoVo platform and Trustees Unlimited. Nonetheless, all charity Trustees need to ensure that their record-keeping is first rate and their governance effective and professional.

Being a small charity is no excuse for being a poorly-run charity…