Universities and public benefit guidance
Sam Younger, chief executive of the Charity Commission has written to The Times in response to its front page story (27 November 2010) headlined: ‘Tuition fees ultimatum.’
The article claims that Dame Suzi Leather had warned: “she is ready to force institutions to justify their status – worth millions a year in tax breaks – if plans proceed to allow [university tuition] fees to rise up to £9,000 a year.”
The Commission told Caritas that Dame Suzi’s comments were taken out of context. Younger’s response to The Times was as follows: “The Charity Commission has not issued any kind of 'ultimatum' to universities. It is for them, as charities, to decide how they will demonstrate the public benefit they provide.
“Our general charity guidance on public benefit says that there must be identifiable benefits, and that the public or a section of the public must have an opportunity to benefit from a charity's activities. Many activities can count towards the public benefit that a university provides, including sharing knowledge, research and widening participation, and trustees have flexibility to choose how they do this.
“The key is to ensure no-one is unreasonably restricted from the opportunity to benefit, in some form, irrespective of the level of fees.”
Dame Suzi was asked a question about the public benefit rules for charities and responded: “Look at the guidance. It’s very clear that if you’re charging high fees you have to provide an opportunity not just to people who can afford high fees and that not being able to afford high fees doesn’t just mean you’re living in poverty.”
The Commission has confirmed that this comment was not specifically about universities and that the guidance is written in general terms.“The key aspect that the guidance describes is ensuring 'people are not unreasonably restricted from the opportunity to benefit” a spokesperson said.
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
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