(To find out more, and comment, go straight to our strategic review blog)

(Immediate release 16 February 2011)

The Charity Commission has today set out its key regulatory priorities for the next four years as it concludes the first stage of its strategic review and publishes the responses from the public consultation.

Announcing the initial conclusions, Chair of the Charity Commission Dame Suzi Leather said,

“The public and the charity sector have warmly endorsed the critical role we play in protecting and serving the public interest in charity and in holding charities accountable for the privileges of charitable status. They also endorse our general approach and recognise our improved effectiveness.

“However, it is also apparent that we can change and improve. There is strong support for a clearer focus on our core regulatory role, and on doing what only we can do.

“This will mean a rebalancing of the relationship between the sector and the regulator so that umbrella bodies, and charities themselves, take back responsibility for sharing and promoting good practice - building the strength and prominence of sector organisations. It will mean reinforcing the confidence and self-reliance of charities to make their own decisions within the legal boundaries wherever possible. It will mean reducing our interventions in individual charities and, over time, our one to one advice to charities.”

The key priorities agreed by the Commission are:

Registering charities

• Continue to ensure registration is a robust test of charitable purposes
• Further streamline the process, moving quickly and clearly to reject applications which do not meet the requirements rather than spending time working with them to refine their application.

Providing guidance to trustees to enable them to manage their charity effectively

• Continue to set out clear information and guidance to enable trustees to understand and meet the legal requirements for running a charity
• Tailor our guidance to the diverse needs of charities, and use technology to enable some personalisation and interactivity
• Develop our partnerships with umbrella bodies so that over time they can take on responsibility for one to one advice
• Consider, in partnership with the charity sector, a programme of peer review to help identify and address areas of risk

Ensuring charities are accountable to the public by requiring and publishing information

• Review the information required of charities to make sure what we ask for is necessary and sufficient for public accountability
• Review how we analyse, publish and share the information we hold on charities to maximise the impact

Giving permissions as required in law

• Reduce the bureaucracy connected with these permissions, requiring charities to make ‘right first time’ applications which are then accepted or rejected
• Consider options such as self-certification and the raising of thresholds

Taking action to deal with serious mismanagement or abuse of charity

• Maintain the capacity to investigate individual charities where there is mismanagement or abuse – but focus on individual interventions only where there is a serious and systemic risk and where our involvement can have most impact

Organisational structure and culture

• Create a new structure with a flatter hierarchy, and fewer layers of decision-making
• Create flexible, integrated operational teams
• Be clearer and more consistent about taking up only issues which fall within our risk framework
• Be more relaxed about challenge to our decisions

The next stage of the review will involve further work to develop and refine these priorities into a detailed strategy and activities, as well as developing a new organisational structure for the Charity Commission to enable us to deliver the new strategy. This will involve further external and internal consultation over the coming months. Our aim is to begin implementing these changes from May 2011 with a view to having the new strategy and structure fully in place from 1 October 2011.

For more information contact our press office.

PR 07/11

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator and registrar of charities. See our website at www.charitycommission.gov.uk
2. Our mission is: to ensure charities’ legal compliance, enhance charities’ accountability, encourage charities’ effectiveness and impact and to promote the public interest in charity.
3. The consultation on the first stage of the Charity Commission’s strategic review launched on 22 October 2010 and closed on 14 January 2011. Respondents were invited to complete an online survey, post comments on the strategic review blog, or send in written responses and comments. The Commission also commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct a small number of focus groups to test public attitudes to the regulation of charities.
4. The consultation received more than 100 emails and written consultation responses, more than 200 completed questionnaires, and more than 100 comments to date on the blog. In addition, Charity Commission Board members and senior executives attended 83 meetings with a broad range of stakeholders including charities, umbrella bodies, parliamentarians and other regulators.
5. A brief summary of the responses to the consultation, along with a full list of the organisations and individuals met, the report from Ipsos MORI on the public focus groups, and copies of all the responses received is available from 16 February on the strategic review website at http://charitycommissionreview.blogspot.com