«Делайте больше, чтобы отличить благотворительность и международную помощь», – говорит депутат благотворительным организациям

Дезмонд Суэйн, депутат от New Forest West, говорит, что общественность нуждается в разъяснении о различии между двумя

Организации помощи и правительству необходимо сделать больше, чтобы провести различие между благотворительностью и расходами на международную помощь, согласно депутату Консервативной партии Десмонду Суэйну.

Выступая на очередном мероприятии о международных расходах на помощь на конференции Консервативной партии в Манчестере вчера, депутат от New Forest West сказал, что политики не смогли просвещать общественность о бюджете помощи, потому что считали, что это непопулярно с избирателями, и поэтому решил не говорить об этом.

Это, по его словам, привело к «глубокой путанице», что расходы на помощь были «чем-то связаны с благотворительностью».

Он сказал делегатам: «Мы не занимаемся благотворительностью – благотворительность – это когда вы кладете руку в свой карман и вносите свой вклад. Международная помощь в целях развития – это деньги налогоплательщика, извлеченные из вашего кармана всей принудительной силой закона и, следовательно, должен быть потрачен в ваших интересах, с ожиданием возврата.

«Благотворительность – это то, что вы отдаете, не ожидая возврата – мы проводим нашу международную помощь в области развития в наших интересах, и это должно быть мерой ее эффективности».

Он сказал, что не пытаться аргументировать расходы на помощь является «глубокой ошибкой в ​​демократии».

Кирсти МакНилл, исполнительный директор по вопросам политики, адвокации и кампаний по спасению детей, согласилась, но сказала, что часто бывает трудно получить такие позитивные аргументы в отношении расходов на помощь, которые охвачены некоторыми основными новостными новостями.

Она сказала, однако, что ответы на критику СМИ о том, как были потрачены деньги помощи, должны быть нюансированными и открытыми.

«Когда коллеги в средствах массовой информации поднимают законные вопросы, это во многих отношениях государственная служба – нам нужно тщательное изучение, это огромные государственные средства, и мы не должны отступать от этого».

Она сказала, что существует тенденция к тому, что язык в таком охвате становится очень двоичным, с пессимистическим взглядом на то, что все расходы на помощь были плохо управляемы и не улучшились, и что Великобритания не способна добиться международного воздействия.

«Но способ противостоять тому, чтобы не иметь одинаково двоичного взгляда Поллианна-иш, что всякая помощь совершенна, и она должна быть освобождена от контроля», – сказала она.

«У него должен быть очень подробный контроль, и мы будем рады предоставить ответы».

Джеймс Прайс, руководитель кампании в Альянсе налогоплательщиков, заявил на сессии, что если государственные расходы на помощь будут сокращены, сумма, получаемая благотворительными организациями за развитие, повысится, потому что люди будут жертвовать больше причин, которые им интересны.

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Charity Finance Group calls for joint working party on VAT post-Brexit

In its submission to the Chancellor before the autumn Budget, the group says government and charities could work together to bring in a rebate scheme

The Charity Finance Group has called for a joint government and charity sector working party to decide how the VAT system should operate after Brexit.

In a submission to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, before the autumn Budget, which will take place on 22 November, the CFG says there are some “significant opportunities” for charities from Brexit, in particular in charity tax, and that the government should “lay the foundation for a stronger charity sector”.

Irrevocable VAT costs the charity sector approximately £1.5bn a year, which is equivalent to £9,204 for every charity in the UK, the submission says.

The European Union currently sets rules on VAT zero rates, but the CFG’s letter says that on departing the EU the government could help charities by phasing in a rebate scheme to allow VAT incurred on non-business income to be reclaimed over five years.

This could be supplemented, it says, by converting existing VAT exemptions into zero ratings or “options to tax”, which would allow charities to recover VAT.

These two proposals could save the charity sector 90 per cent of its current VAT tax burden, the submission says.

“The impact of VAT reform would be transformational to the UK charity sector, not only reducing the amount of time spent focused on structuring activities in such a way as to avoid large VAT bills and paying for advice, but also in freeing up hundreds of millions of pounds to be spent on helping advance good causes,” it says.

The CFG is also calling for charities to be exempt from paying insurance premium tax – a tax on general insurance premiums – and for business rate relief for charities to be increased, including a target to create 100 per cent rate relief by the end of this decade.

The CFG’s letter come after a submission last week from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the charity chief executives body Acevo and UK Community Foundations that called on the government to create a successor to the European Social Fund.

The ESF provides European investment for social issues, such as improving skills and training and reducing inactivity among young people and the long-term unemployed. Charities receive approximately £300m a year from the ESF.

The joint submission said that the government had an opportunity to keep the best aspects of the ESF while reducing the scheme’s bureaucracy.

The £1bn in dormant assets the government’s Commission on Dormant Assets recently uncovered should also be used to strengthen the charity sector, the joint submission said, including allowing communities to purchase local amenities and assets, such as village halls or pubs.

The Association of Charitable Foundations has also backed both of the NCVO’s proposals in a separate letter to the Chancellor.

The Charity Tax Group also used its submission ahead of the Budget to call for an improved VAT system, reform of Gift Aid donor benefit rules, reducing tax burdens on the charity sector and making charities’ trading subsidiaries exempt from HM Revenue & Customs’ Making Tax Digital programme.

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Regulator probes broadcasting charity amid concerns of ‘significant unauthorised payments’

The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Fadak Media Broadcasts last month after receiving a serious incident report from the charity

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into an Islamic broadcasting charity because of concerns about alleged significant unauthorised payments.

The regulator said in a statement today that it had opened an inquiry into Fadak Media Broadcasts last month after receiving a serious incident report from the charity with suspicions about “significant unauthorised payments from within the charity”. 

The commission said: “The report has raised serious regulatory concerns about the management and administration of the charity, and whether the trustees have sufficient oversight of the charity’s finances.”

The charity which broadcasts through its website and on YouTube, has objects to advance Islam, advance the education of the public in the Islamic religion and to promote religious harmony.

The charity was registered with the commission in January last year and has not yet been required to file any accounts with the regulator.

The commission said the inquiry would examine issues including whether the charity’s trustees had exercised sufficient control of the charity’s assets and whether there had been any misappropriation of those assets.

Third Sector was unable to speak to anybody at the charity using the telephone number listed on its website.

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Law Commission puts forward a raft of changes to charity law

Proposals include removing the legal barriers to charities merging and helping them amend their governing documents more easily

Charity law should be reformed to ensure it does not discourage volunteers or “prevent or delay legitimate charitable activities”, a new report from the Law Commission says.

The 350-page report, Technical Issues in Charity Law, which follows a four-year project by the Law Commission to review charity law, recommends removing unnecessary bureaucracy that affects charities while ensuring proper protections for the public remain in place.

Among the proposals are removing legal barriers to charities merging when a merger is in their best interests and helping charities amend their governing documents more easily, with Charity Commission oversight when necessary.

Charities should also have more flexibility to seek tailored advice when they sell land, with unnecessary administrative burdens removed, the report says.

Trustees should be given advance assurance that litigation costs in the charity tribunal can be paid from the charity’s funds, the report says, and charities should have more flexibility to use their permanent endowments, as long as checks are in place to ensure their long-term protection.

The report says the law does not give the Charity Commission all the necessary tools to promote trust in the charity sector. It therefore suggests allowing the commission to confirm that trustees have been properly appointed, giving it powers to prevent charities using misleading names and forming a single set of criteria to decide changes to a charity’s purposes.

Nick Hopkins, law commissioner for property, family and trust law, said: “As it is, some of the technical law around charities is inefficient and unduly complex. Our reforms would help make sure charities use their time and money in the best way to support their good causes, while providing oversight to ensure public confidence.”

Nicola Evans, chair of the Charity Law Association, said: “As the Law Commission’s report today notes, its recommendations are technical but important, with real practical consequences for charities. It offers a real opportunity to remove some of the complexity and inconsistencies that can make charity law difficult both to apply and to regulate.

“I hope the government will now bring forward the draft bill to implement some much-needed reform.”

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, who chaired a 2012 review of the Charities Act 2006, which found that charities faced a number of historical obstacles under existing law, also welcomed the reforms and called for their swift implementation by the government.

Carol Mack, chief executive of the Association for Charitable Foundations, welcomed the changes that allow foundations to borrow from their endowments for large projects and give them greater scope to make social investments.

Kenneth Dibble, chief legal adviser at the Charity Commission, said the report made “a number of sensible and timely recommendations”.

He said: “We have worked closely with the Law Commission throughout its charity law project, which supports our strategic priority of enabling trustees to run their charities more effectively and, we hope, will increase public trust and confidence.

“We will continue to work with government and other stakeholders to ensure that the impact of these changes are fully understood and would support government bringing forward the implementation of these proposals in the coming months.”

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Pirate radio goes digital for Remember A Charity Week

Remember A Charity Week has been launched and for the first time features a digital radio station hosted by the former pirate radio DJ Emperor Rosko.

This year’s campaign has drawn on the DJ’s services to raise awareness about wills specifically among the baby boomer generation, who might remember listening to the original broadcasts of pirate radio.

The shows on Last Pirate FM, which is broadcasting on DAB radio and online between 11 and 15 September, will feature interviews with charities, supporters and celebrities including Twiggy, Wilko Johnson and Keith Skues, discussion shows, music from the 1960s and on-air discussions with the public.

Rosko, who was one of the DJs on Radio Caroline, probably the most famous radio station of the 1960s, before he joined BBC Radio 1, launched the campaign by sailing down the Thames on a recreation of Caroline’s Ross Revenge boat. The ship will travel to historic music locations around the country throughout the week.

This year’s campaign is using the hashtag #HaveyourSay to encourage people to “have your say on the world you want to pass on”, which could include leaving a gift in their wills. A number of Remember A Charity’s 190 member charities have got involved by creating their own jingles, which will be broadcast throughout the week.

Rob Cope, director of Remember A Charity, said: “This year’s campaign is very different from anything we have done in the past and is possible only due to the involvement of so many charities. Working collaboratively, we can really champion the importance of gifts in wills, creating a cultural change that will take us one step closer to making legacy giving a social norm.”

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Charity shops vital to helping people back into work, says Demos survey

According to research by the think tank, two-thirds of charity shop volunteers felt this had helped their employment prospects

Volunteering at charity shops plays a vital role in helping unemployed people gain paid employment and has a positive effect on local communities and high streets, according to new research from the think tank Demos.

The research, which is based partly on a survey of 650 charity shop managers and volunteers carried out in 2016 and 2017, follows similar research released in 2013. Researchers this time found that two-thirds of charity shop volunteers felt their role had improved their employment prospects.

Seventy-five per cent of the volunteers surveyed said they gained new skills, and 73 per cent said volunteering at charity shops had helped their self-esteem and confidence.

Most charity shop managers said they believed charity shops were positive additions to high streets, with about two-thirds saying their premises would otherwise be left empty if the charity shop did not exist.

Demos also found that charity shops saved local councils £27m between 2015 and 2016 by diverting clothes and other goods from landfill.

A separate poll of 2,000 members of the public found a generational divide on whether charity shops were positive for high streets, with younger people more likely to see charity shops as cost-effective, environmentally friendly and trendy.

In contrast, many older people said they thought that the appearance of charity shops was a sign of an unhealthy high street.

According to the research, three-quarters of charity shop managers were satisfied in their roles, although 55 per cent found the job either stressful or very stressful.

Volunteers were generally motivated to help out at charity shops in order to contribute to the specific charity, charity in general or to their communities, the research found.

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Robin Osterley, chief executive of the Charity Retail Association, said: “From environmental benefit and getting people back into work to improving the confidence and wellbeing of the more vulnerable members of our society, charity shops continue to give far-reaching benefits to their local communities.

“In addition, this report makes it clear that a volunteering revolution would not only benefit the sector but would also help communities all over the country.”

The report’s author, Peter Harrison-Evans, said that the charity shop sector faced an “image problem”, despite its positive impact on communities and volunteers.

“Exactly half of those polled wanted to see fewer charity shops on the high street,” he said.

“That said, Demos finds that this view is strongly mediated by the use of charity shops and demographic factors, with younger people far more likely to see them as valuable assets.”

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Regulator probes Christian charity for accounts failures

Kingdom Life Ministries of north London failed to submit its accounts on time for three consecutive years

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a London-based Christian charity after it failed to submit its accounts on time for three consecutive years.

Kingdom Life Ministries, which is based in Tottenham, north London, and promotes Christianity, has been accused by the commission of showing evidence of mismanagement and of non-compliance with the regulator.

The charity was included in a class inquiry last year after failing to submit its accounts for the financial years ending 31 May 2014 and 2015.

KLM was later removed from the class inquiry, which included a group of charities that had repeatedly failed to file accounts on time, after it submitted the outstanding accounts in April this year.

But the charity filed its 2016 accounts 74 days late, the Charity Commission website shows, which prompted the new statutory inquiry.

The commission said that because the charity had been given regulatory advice and guidance, “it is of serious regulatory concern to the commission that the charity has continued to default on its statutory duties”.

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According to the Charity Commission website, the charity had an income of £870,411 and spent £860,563 in the year to 31 May 2016.

The website shows that the charity has filed each of the past five sets of accounts late, ranging from 15 days overdue to 489 days behind schedule.

The inquiry will examine the extent to which the trustees have complied with previous guidance and whether they are carrying out their legal obligations properly.

The charity did not respond to a request for comment before Third Sector’s deadline.

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Регулятор зондирует еврейскую благотворительность, которая подала счета в течение четырех лет

. По данным Комиссии по благотворительности, Хабад Любавич подал эту документацию по меньшей мере на 300 дней позже

Благотворительная комиссия открыла расследование еврейской благотворительности, которая подала свои счета по меньшей мере на 300 дней в конце каждого из последних четырех лет.

Сегодня регулирующий орган заявил, что Хабад Любавич, который имеет объекты, в том числе продвижение и продвижение еврейской религии и еврейского образования, продемонстрировал неоднократную модель поведения, которая указывала на неправильное руководство администрацией организации.

Благотворительность предоставляет целый ряд услуг, включая еврейские школы и детские сады, и предлагает вспомогательные услуги, такие как посещение больниц и тюрьмы и консультирование.

Счета благотворительной организации на 2015 год не были поданы и на 311 дней опозданы, согласно записи благотворительности на сайте Комиссии по благотворительности.

Благотворительная организация, которая в 2014 году получила доход в размере 8,7 млн ​​фунтов стерлингов, предоставила свои документы между 313 и 418 днями позже в каждом из предыдущие четыре года, сообщает сайт регулятора.

В заявлении комиссии сегодня говорится, что он издал приказ, в соответствии с которым благотворительная организация предоставила свои непогашенные счета, и попросила его провести обзор и внести изменения, чтобы гарантировать, что благотворительность выполнила свои обязательства по представлению годовых отчетов.

Регулирующий орган сказал, что в его расследовании будет рассмотрен вопрос о том, в какой степени благотворительность соблюдает свои обязанности по подаче документов и степень, в которой она выполнила ранее выпущенные рекомендации от комиссии.

Никто из благотворительных организаций не ответил на просьбу о комментарии от третьего сектора в четверг утром.

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Think tank urges wide-ranging review of charity tax reliefs

New Philanthropy Capital wants ministers to examine what happens to the £4bn of charity tax breaks the sector gets each year

The think tank New Philanthropy Capital has called for a wide-ranging review of charity tax reliefs to make them work better for the voluntary sector.

NPC has today urged the government to examine where the near £4bn generated each year in charitable tax relief and the extra resources it generates goes in the charity sector and whether it can be improved upon.

The think tank said any review should be revenue-neutral and not used to cut financial support to the sector.

The charity sector received about £4bn in tax reliefs in the 2016/17 financial year, with Gift Aid and business rates relief accounting for £1.28bn and £1.87bn respectively.

VAT reliefs are worth £400m to the charity sector and stamp duty land tax reliefs are worth approximately £220m, according to figures provided by NPC.

Individual people also get charitable tax reliefs, with inheritance tax reliefs worth £840m in 2016/17 and the higher-rate relief on Gift Aid worth £520m.

Other charitable reliefs include payroll giving, social investment tax relief and gifts of shares and property.

Dan Corry, chief executive of NPC, said: “As politicians return to Westminster, they need to look at how they can best use resources to support a strong and thriving civil society. We think that a review of the £4bn or so of tax breaks currently on offer is an important part of this process.

“NPC spends a lot of time urging individual charities to look hard at the way they allocate their resources to see if they maximise impact. It is only right that government should do the same.”

The call comes after NPC wrote an open letter to the political parties before the general election that set out the case for strengthening the charity sector, including moving the Office for Civil Society to a “cross-cutting department” such as the Cabinet Office.

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