Sam Younger told the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) yesterday that there is “an increasing disjunction between the breadth of the remit and the resources available to do it”.
He said the Commission has already “dispensed with” its role in providing one-to-one advice to charities, and that it now simply points inquiries towards its website.
Meanwhile, a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report published today says the commission is “not fit for purpose.” PAC chair Margaret Hodge said it is “obvious that [the commission] has no coherent strategy”.
Her warning follows criticism of the commission in a National Audit Office report, which warned that it was not taking tough action when charities broke the rules.
Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said: "The approach the Charity Commission took to regulation in recent years risked harming the reputation of charitable status. The Commission has to be an effective regulator in order to maintain the public’s trust in charities. Although cases of abuse are rare, in the past the Commission has been too slow to act when they do arise. We are pleased it is now making moves in the right direction. It has started taking firmer action and is seeking to enhance its legal powers."
He welcomed the PAC's plan to review the Commission again in a year.
Younger told PASC that the commission is an effective regulator considering the limits to its resources.
“I think the commission regulates well within the context of very limited resources, but we know that in those key areas the National Audit Office looked at we can and must do a lot better,” he told PASC, adding that the organisation needs “to be ready to cut trustees less slack when we do identify that there is potentially serious wrongdoing. We’re beginning to do that, but there is some way to go.”