Tuesday 14 May 2013

Charity Commission.


Stuart is absolutely right. The Commission has brought the sector into disrepute. The defensive response of the Commission chair in his letter to The Times demonstrates they have not learnt the lessons of their lamentable handling of the Cup Trust. For Shawcross to try and excuse inaction by "waiting for HMRC" is simply not good enough.

People want to know that there is a regulator that is fearless in pursuit of wrongdoing. Not one that hides behind legalisms and process. The problem with the Cup Trust case is that we don't know how many others there are, where the Commission is inactive.

Will the arrival of new people on the Board help?  Looking at the names I think not. Apart from Orlando Fraser, who I like, these are not inspiring appointments. But you never know; they may provide the much needed impetus for a more aggressive Commission that looks to exercise its powers in a way that inspires confidence, not looking over their shoulder to lawyers and making excuses for lack of action about patently obvious abuse.

As Joe Irvin said about this, “The commission needs to admit it got this wrong, dust itself down and then look at how it can better tackle rogue charities."


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