The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales
Response from the Charity Commission
Our first stakeholder survey in 2004 helped us shape our strategic aims and objectives, which we published in 2005 after a process of public consultation as Charity working at the heart of society: The way forward 2005-2008. Our corporate plan published in April 2006 set out how we would deliver this strategy through to March 2008.
We commissioned this second survey to take stock of stakeholders’ perceptions of our performance since 2004. The findings provide invaluable information as we aim to enhance further our service to customers and improve our delivery against the expectations of stakeholders. They also help measure our achievements against our statutory objective of increasing the public’s trust and confidence in charities.
We are pleased with the largely positive findings of the survey and particularly the fact that stakeholders support our strategic direction and feel significant progress has been made since 2004. It is particularly positive that we have improved our scores in the benchmarking questions on every single area. As we move forward, we:
We have set out some more detail on our response and plans in the appended pages.
We welcome both the stakeholder survey and the chance to respond to the comments. We are keen to improve our services to charities and surveys such as this one are instrumental in giving us feedback and setting us new challenges. It is our intention to carry out this type of survey on a regular basis and, in so doing, continue monitoring stakeholders’ perceptions of the Commission to inform our continual improvement.
| Dame Suzi Leather Chair |
Andrew Hind Chief Executive |
Effectiveness
Bureaucracy
Stakeholders commented that aspects of the Commission can appear to be overly process-focused, which may impede us being enabling, more dynamic and focused on the needs of charities. We have in progress a general up-skilling of key posts which are in direct contact with charities to achieve improvement in the quality, speed and accuracy of our engagement with customers. We are also looking at better ways of empowering junior staff to make more considerative decisions for themselves where this is appropriate, rather than delaying decisions through having them seek approval from senior officers. Our new programme Stop, Think, Write will help this process. We expect that these changes, combined with the reduction in bureaucracy brought about by the modernising aspects of the Charities Act 2006, will have a marked effect on the speed and quality of customer service.
Speaking up on issues
The survey suggests that the Commission should be ‘forthright and robust’ on relevant issues. We agree, and aim to present policy recommendations to the public and the sector that are based on informed opinion.
For example, the Charities Act 2006 will bring provisions into effect requiring all charities to positively demonstrate public benefit. Decisions on how the public benefit test will operate will, rightly, rest with the Commission and we need to communicate clearly our view. Our ultimate objective is to explain the concept of public benefit in a way which is consistent with the law and clear to the public.
We will in 2007 continue to highlight non-compliance with submission of accounts or other Commission requirements, and robustly challenge the sector to improve its accountability to the public. Through our evidence-based research reports we will also continue to focus on specific issues of good or bad practice within the sector and will place more emphasis on policy recommendations and wider learning.
Strategic direction
We are delighted that stakeholders are aware of our strategic direction and that they agree with key aspects of our approach, although some want more evidence of a demonstrable impact of the strategy on our services.
Championing the public interest in charity
Stakeholders would like to see us highlight best practice in the sector, benefiting the sector and the public, as a way to deliver our objective of championing the public interest in charity. We are striving to meet this challenge in a number of ways:
Public trust and confidence
The survey suggests stakeholders see our main role as being a ‘guardian of integrity and defender of public confidence’ in charities. This chimes with one of our statutory objectives, to increase public trust and confidence in charities.
We share the view expressed by stakeholders that this can be achieved by dealing with wrong-doing effectively as well as by highlighting areas of good practice. We also think it can be achieved by promoting the work of trustees and volunteers and the contribution charitable activity makes to society.
The report suggests that we conduct research to identify issues and concerns the public has which affect their confidence in charities. We believe this research will be an effective tool to assess how well we meet our objective, as well as identifying the various contributory factors that affect public trust and confidence. In 2005 we commissioned a survey on public trust and confidence to inform our preparation for this new statutory objective. The survey results are on our website. We intend to commission this type of survey every two years.
Addressing the equalities agenda
A few respondents were keen to see us address the issues of equality and human rights in our work. We wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. We play an active role in the equality and human rights agenda and already engage with the bodies that will be merged to form the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) and will, of course, work with the new body. We are an observer member of the influential Equality and Diversity Forum – a network of national organisations committed to progress on age, disability, religion and belief, sexual orientation and broader equality and human rights issues.
Our Race and Disability Equality Schemes (together with our developing Gender scheme) detail both internal and outward facing activities we are undertaking to address a range of equalities issues. We strive to ensure that the interests of charities are taken into account in the development of equality legislation. How much we can do in future to promote best practice in charities is clearly conditioned by our resources. Other bodies are specifically funded to promote equality and it is likely that we will continue to rely on them to engage with charities in the first instance.
Delivering quality services
Publications and correspondence
The survey noted that some respondents feel that we are still unclear in our communications as to what is mandatory and what represents ‘best practice’. We have redesigned our publications to show clearly what is a legal requirement – a ‘must’ – and what is good practice – a ‘should’. The Essential Trustee: What you need to know (CC3) is a good example. We are in the process of converting all our guidance into this new style - the timescales for this will tie in with the timing of the different provisions in the Charities Act 2006 coming into force. Our plans for early 2007 include new versions of our guide to the basics of accounting, the hallmarks of an effective charity, registering a charity and trading, as well as a Plain English guide to the Charities Act published jointly with the Office of the Third Sector.We launched a new programme, Stop, Think, Write, in July 2006 to ensure that our one-to-one contacts with customers were more effective. The aim of the programme is to communicate clearly and appropriately with our customers. The key elements to Stop, Think, Write include developing and communicating a ‘house style’ (a style and standard of writing that reflects our values and that we are proud to promote), effecting lasting cultural change, implementing an on-going staff development programme, and establishing quality assurance systems. Our house style will aim to clearly distinguish between ‘must do’ legal obligations and ‘should do’ advice and always use plain English in standard correspondence. We will be assessing our success by asking customers for their feedback during the next two years.
Website
We are pleased that respondents were supportive of improvements to the website. However, some respondents have had difficulties with the search facility. We have recognised the weaknesses in the present search and plan to replace it with an improved Google search shortly. We expect to launch our re-designed website early in 2007. Usability tests and an online survey carried out in 2006 were used to determine what the new design should look like. It will conform to latest accessibility standards and will be speech enabled.
Charity Commission Direct
It was good to see that our new reception service for all post, email and telephone contact with the Commission – Charity Commission Direct – is considered a positive development. This echoes a recent customer survey which gave us a 94% satisfaction rate on both responsiveness and quality. One in three customers has noticed a marked difference in service since its launch in May. Our service has recently been ranked 'highly commended' for Operational Service Delivery in the 2006 Civil Service Awards. This gives us an excellent benchmark for further improvement.
Large Charities Unit
The survey commented that some respondents had concerns about the Large Charities Unit as regards staff expertise and turnover leading to continuity problems.
The Large Charities Unit is committed to improving service delivery to its customers. In April 2006 the unit was reorganised and centralised in our London office. Teams are now organised around specific types of charities, for example, Arts, Conservation, Grant Makers and Overseas charities. We believe these changes will ensure consistency in the advice and guidance we offer. We will also be able to identify emerging trends amongst sub groups of large charities and develop our contextual knowledge of the different types of charities we regulate and supervise. We have established about 50 account holder relationships with key large charities with a view to providing individual charities with greater continuity. This number will grow incrementally as we develop our services.
In response to requests from our customers, we will be publishing a leaflet about the work of the Large Charities Unit in January 2007. The leaflet will contain named contact details to enhance our accessibility and to promote early engagement with the unit.
Secondments and staff training
The survey suggests that respondents would be keen to see the Commission developing staff training and a two-way secondment programme between the Commission and the sector.
We agree, and are very keen to maintain and build on our existing staff development and training programme. Various activities are currently underway to identify the most appropriate ways for staff to develop their knowledge and skills and to encourage everyone to think broadly about their personal development. These include devising a programme of inward and outward secondment in certain parts of the Commission to help staff understand the issues facing charities. In addition, we are reviewing the Commission's induction programme to help new starters understand the sector and to minimise the negative impacts of staff turnover on continuity. We encourage staff to attend sector events, to enable them to keep pace with the latest thinking and trends in the sector.
Being more customer-focused
We have devised an organisational strategy called Customers Count, aimed at the continuous improvement of services to our customers. The project is designed to build customer awareness amongst our workforce and strengthen procedures. Key features include a Customers’ Charter, streamlining procedures to make them more customer-friendly, improved standards of written correspondence and a wholesale revision of our complaints processes to make them more accessible and to increase customer feedback. We are linking with other government departments and public service agencies to learn from their experiences.
Our case-working divisions have been tasked with dealing with 90% of critical response deadlines set by charities themselves. This new target ensures that we focus on the convenience and expectations of our customers, and to date we are exceeding our target.
We have introduced enhanced response times for trustees via our contact centre, and have extended our opening hours so that we can take calls from 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am - 1pm Saturday.
From spring 2007, customers will have the option of using our new on-line charity registration application. The user-friendly system will allow customers to save partially-completed applications and return to them at a later date. Once completed, the application can be submitted at the touch of a button at any time. We know that some customers prefer to fill in a paper form and this option will still be available, with a re-designed and user-tested new form.
Engagement
Partnership working
We share the expectation of stakeholders that the Commission should be building partnerships with others. Our plans for working in partnership were discussed at our open board meeting in November 2006, and can be seen on our website.
Compliance
Filing accounts
Respondents were supportive of recent changes to filing accounts, for example filing online. We are planning further enhancements to the online service and through better use of technology hope to bring about improvements in transparency whilst continuing to simplify forms.
Investigations
Although respondents noted that it was a positive development to open fewer formal inquiries, there is a concern that the Commission should not be seen to be ‘soft’ in this area.
Since our strategic review in 2005 we have put in place a new approach for working with charities where their assets, services or beneficiaries are at risk because, for example, of misconduct or mismanagement or the breakdown of their governance. We work, where possible, with trustees to rectify issues. In most cases this can be done by providing support, but in more serious cases it may be necessary to intervene by using protective legal powers. We reserve formal inquiries for those areas where the trustees do not co-operate with us, where resolution is not possible through our support, or where the risk is greatest. As a result we are undertaking fewer, but more focused, formal inquiries. Related work which does not require a formal inquiry is still dealt with; we continue to maintain our commitment to look into issues of concern raised with us and ensure charities comply with their legal obligations, but in a more effective and efficient way.
Proportionality
Developing a sophisticated risk framework
We are pleased that most respondents from charities believe we are now developing the right approach in our regulation of them. We also note that respondents from larger charities agree with our proportionate approach to regulation, and our expectation that larger charities should be subject to greater scrutiny.
We recognise that a proportionate regulatory approach should not be based on size of charity alone. We plan to develop our risk-based approach to compliance and enforcement further and make clear to charities and to the public what that means. For example, we are proposing some changes to the Annual Return which include a new serious incident reporting facility. We will be publishing these proposals for consultation in early January.
The survey welcomes the standardisation of advice and signposting charities to generic guidance. However, some concerns were expressed that our approach may be to the detriment of some charities who would not receive support appropriate to their needs. One of our key reasons for standardising advice and guidance was to give our customers consistent responses. Standardisation has allowed us to give more time to enquiries which require more detailed responses, and give a better service. In our recent customer survey customers gave a 94% satisfaction rate for quality of response.
Information and Communication
We are pleased that stakeholders recognise the improvements in our website, guidance and newsletter. As noted earlier, we recognise there is room to improve the quality and tone of individual contacts with charities and our Stop, Think, Write programme is aimed at doing this.
The Commission’s engagement with government
The majority of respondents would like to see the Commission engage more effectively with government, advise and inform, whilst fully retaining its independence.
We agree that the Commission’s independence, expertise and status as regulator of charitable activity means that we are well placed to advise government on the needs of the sector and policy affecting the sector. Our public affairs and policy formulation work in 2006 has rightly been focused primarily on the passage of the Charities Act. In 2007 we will be building on this engagement with politicians and government in England and Wales to ensure that our role as regulator is understood and that key government stakeholders are confident in the effectiveness of the Commission and welcome our advice on the future needs of the sector. Implementing the Charities Act, contributing to the Cabinet Office review of the future role of the third sector, and participating in the joint HM Treasury/Home Office review into terrorist financing in the charitable sector will be priorities in early 2007, and throughout the year we will be developing our parliamentary contact programme.
Making better use of our information
The survey recommended that the Commission should produce and display information about the sector as a whole. We have well advanced plans to improve the range of information we make available about individual charities on our website and to create flexible new search facilities for the public that will enable them to research and compare as well as searching for individual charities. We have completed a ‘pilot’ analysis of the sector and are planning to make information about the sector available on our website and in periodic reports. We will roll this out in 2007.