Voluntary organisations are accountable to multiple stakeholders – their donors, funders, beneficiaries, public supporters and staff, to name a few. This makes following the rules a complex business. As public awareness of the professionalism and commercial-mindedness of the UK’s charities increases, so do the expectations of donors for accountability. In a climate of austerity, where reliance on charities is increasing, that means organisations must step up to the challenge.
One of the biggest talking points in the voluntary sector of late has been the Charity Commission’s three year change-programme to make more effective use of its powers, begun under its new chief executive Paula Sussex. Underpinned by £8m of additional funding from the Treasury, and following criticism from the public accounts committee, this will be a significant year for charity regulation. In 2013-14 the sector’s overseers opened 64 statutory inquiries (its most serious form of regulatory action) compared to 15 the year before – an increase of over 326%. According to the National Audit Office, so far the benefits are clear: the inquiries have led to £47m of charitable funds being accounted for.
If the enthusiastic debate surrounding this issue among charity leaders is anything to go by, regulation is hardly the dull and dusty subject one might presume it to be. We’ve seen other major talking points emerge recently too – notably the Lobbying Act, the new SORP (standard of recommended practice), the draft protection of charities bill and the pension auto-enrolment scheme. Each throws light on how big the impact of legislative developments can be on the activities and financial stability of a charity.
We’ve put this practical guide together with exactly this in mind: to help charities understand regulatory best practice, as well as some of the key regulatory updates and legal cases we believe they should be keeping an eye on.
You can read the full ebook here
Content on this page is paid for and provided by Zurich Insurance sponsor of the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network’s Charity Leadership hub.
