Membership of umbrella bodies could become compulsory under Charity Commission proposals
Arts charities may soon be obliged to join umbrella bodies, which the Charity Commission is hoping will in future provide the one-to-one advice and support it currently gives to charitable organisations. The Commission’s own advice service is being axed in response to budget cuts of a third over four years, announced in last year’s budget, and the charity regulator will instead be concentrating on its core role of providing public access to information about charities and investigating evidence of serious abuse. More of its staff will be trained to deal with serious regulatory concerns than before: the number of serious incidents reported rose from 451 in 2009/10 to 849 in 2010/11, the largest proportion of which concerned fraud and theft.
At the Commission’s Annual Public Meeting, Chair Dame Suzi Leather said that the move to transfer its information and advice role to umbrella bodies was part of a wider strategy to help the charitable sector become more self-reliant and enable charity trustees to take their own decisions wherever possible. An independent review of the Charities Act 2006 is due to be completed next year, and Leather is keen to ensure that there is “further deregulation where it is appropriate”. She said: “Improving self-reliance also means the Commission working more closely with the sector and those who support charities. We want to strengthen the umbrella infrastructure bodies.” The Commission’s online services for charities will be further developed and greater emphasis will be placed on giving guidance on the principles according to which trustees must operate.
A new strategy document giving further details of proposals will be published before the end of the year.