No stone to be left unturned, despite funding cuts, says Sam Younger
May 2011
However, the theme of his talk at the annual Russam GMS Civil Society evening on 17 May was that the new-look regulator would look differently at the stones once lifted.
The charity sector is a small world and guests at the event were reminded of this when former Red Cross director general Mike Whitlam introduced his successor in that role as the guest speaker – Sam Younger from the Charity Commission. The pair, of course, went back a bit further. While still at the Red Cross, Whitlam was busy trying to get the British hostage, Ian Richter out of Abu Ghraib after the Gulf War in 1991 and Younger was running the BBC World Service which kept Richter going throughout some of his darkest times.
His perspective on the sector and the Commission’s role within it (Whitlam calls for a ‘friendly’ regulator, but Younger pointed out the sector needs the regulator to regulate – whatever that takes) is set out in detail in our May 2011 of
Caritas, which can be read in full
here. His talk built on some of those themes and provided some new insights.
Keeping positive
Sam Younger cautioned against the sector becoming too ‘woeful’. “Yes of course things are tough, and in our consultations funding concerns came up at top of the list”, he said. He adds: “But behind that was also the worry about the danger of the growing gap between the needs and expectations of what the charity sector will do on the one hand and the resources available to deliver on the other. But of course if you are going to be affected in any area you have got to look at things in terms of what you can do rather than what you can’t do.”
He reminded guests that the sector is more powerful in its voice now than it has ever been before and must not see itself as a victim. All sectors have had to deal with cuts.
Core focus
As for the Commission’s own funding cuts of around one-third, Younger confirmed that he had been looking at what the regulator must do and where it can make the most difference, for example, dealing with annual accounts returns, permissions and consents and investigations of problems. “The root of what the Commission is about is to protect public confidence and, going forward, focus on the things only we can do.”
He then explained there were two themes to this:
- Self reliance. Helping the sector to become more self-reliant is critical and this means giving it excellent and user-friendly tools and guidance. It also means moving away from handholding and working with suitable bodies who can do this instead.
- Cleverer use of resource. Once resources currently dedicated to non-core functions have been freed-up, the Commission will be able to work with the sector more proactively and prevent problems before they occur.
In response to one question about whether there would be any kind of threshold, below which the Commission would not investigate because fewer funds were at risk, Younger said he had ‘moved away’ from that option. “Any threshold is an invitation for whatever happens underneath and is not satisfactory. We have to find ways of being more selective and cleverer about whether we intervene or not.
[1] So we ask ourselves: ‘What are the key risks, not just in large organisations because of the quantum, but in small ones because they don’t have the capacity to have the kind of governance arrangements the larger ones have got.’”
He also explained that there has sometimes been a tendency for an investigation to “take over” and dictate resources rather than a decision being taken early on when it is clear the process has reached as stage where the regulator has done as much as it can. He did admit: “Obviously, there is a danger that there are things that might not get looked at that would have come under scrutiny in less lean times, but it is possible to avoid this if you operate the risk framework sensibly.”
Younger went on to remind guests that good governance underpins all charities.
Author: Clarissa Dann
Clarissa Dann was the editor of Caritas as well as an HR and management online service,he People Bulletin until July 2011.
She is now the editor of the specialist trade finance magazine, Trade and Forfaiting Review which can be viewed at www.tfreview.com but does write on charity finance and investment from time to time.
Clarissa has a background in legal and professional publishing, as well as business journalism and holds an MBA from Cass Business School. She has been one of the judges for the non-profit category of the Chartered Institute of Marketing's Excellence in Marketing Awards for the second year running.
She has also acted as clerk to the trustees of a small almshouses charity and as a member nominated trustee to a pension scheme of a multinational publishing company.
Click here for other articles written by Clarissa Dann
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