No-Touch Regulation
Here's a timely article on the 'toothless tiger' - known also as the Charity Commission.
It beggars belief that body which gave only £55,000 to good causes - while allowing donors to claim £46 million in tax relief by abusing gift aid - is allowed to stay on the charity register.
So I think that Sir Stuart Eyherington's comment about 'not so much a light-touch regulator as a no-touch regulator' is particularly apt.
The equivalent body in Scotland - OSCR (Office of the Scottish Charity Commission) - seems little better to me having taking no effective action against the directors of GERA (Glasgow East Regeneration Agency) - who topped up their retiring chief executive's pension pot with an eye watering £232,500 from funds which was intended for charitable works.
See posts dated 19 and 20 February 2013 - 'Keeping Up With The Joneses' and Charitable Giving'
Tax scandal ‘shows watchdog lacks bite’
Sir Stuart Etherington: believes that the Charity Commission has jeopardised public trust in charities
The head of Britain’s largest charity association will condemn the sector’s watchdog today for failing to act over the Cup Trust tax-avoidance scandal.
Sir Stuart Etherington, head of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), which represents more than 10,000 charities, will say that the Charity Commission has jeopardised public trust in charities.
The Cup Trust, which gave only £55,000 to good causes despite raising £176 million in two years, allowed rich donors to claim £46 million in tax relief by abuse of Gift Aid in a scam exposed by The Times in January. The commission, after a two-year investigation, let it stay on the charity register.
Sir Stuart will say it is “not so much a light-touch regulator as a no-touch regulator”. Sir Stephen Bubb, head of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, yesterday called its handling of the case lamentable.
Last week the Charity Commission replaced the trustee of the Cup Trust with an independent third party that will act as manager of the charity until the inquiry is concluded. The regulator will also have powers to freeze the Cup Trust’s bank accounts.
MPs, including Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Public Accounts Committe (PAC), have questioned the commission’s ability after it failed to shut down the trust despite a series of “red flags”. Sir Stuart agreed that a strong regulator was needed but said that the Cup Trust case raised questions about “whether we have the appropriate regulatory framework to ensure such cases are investigated and shut down”.
The Charity Commission has disclosed to the PAC that two registered charities have trustees with addresses in the British Virgin Islands and that 27 have a trustee registered in Bermuda. In November the Commission told this newspaper that this information could not “reliably” be obtained.
A commission spokeswoman said: “We are disappointed by some of these comments bearing in mind how well we work with NCVO.”
