Blunkett announces charity reforms
Laws governing charities are to be tightened up, the Home Secretary announced today, in a bid to improve accountability and increase public confidence.
It has been suggested in recent years that the sector has lost a degree of public sympathy because of aggressive fundraising tactics and donor fatigue.
And the problems emerging this month regarding the ill-advised legal action taken by the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Trust has added to the concerns about the management of charities.
David Blunkett described the country’s half million charitable organisations as one of the UK’s “greatest assets”, but stressed that “high levels of public trust and confidence are vital to its continued success”.
“These reforms highlight the public character of charities and their role as a force for good in society, enabling them to be more effective in their work,” he explained.
The new legislation will clarify what a charity is, setting out 12 clear aims which must be carried out for public, not private benefit. They will include the promotion of health, education, religion, and other goals that are beneficial to the community.
But the proposals also include plans to make life easier for charities, including cutting red tape and freeing tens of thousands of small charities from the need to register.
The proposals include:
– allowing the public to get clearer information about larger charities’ effectiveness, performance and financial position;
– establishing a scheme to oversee good practice in fundraising;
– and requiring charities to state their policies on ethical investments.
The Charity Commission will also be made more open and accountable. Its board will be increased, and it will have to report to Parliament on new statutory objectives.
