On 3 September, the Charity Commission launched an updated version of the online register of charities, which builds on the Commission's aim to increase accountability and transparency in the sector.
In a recent blog post, Charity Commission CEO Helen Stephenson stated it is that the regulator's responsibility to maintain and curate the register in the public interest, and that the register should be a tool to help people selecting a charity to support.
To that end the new register now contains additional fields, many of which charities will recognise from the increasingly detailed Annual Return form, such as: the number of staff and volunteers; the number of staff with salaries of over £60,000; a breakdown of sources of income; assets and investments held; and policies in place at the charity. Perhaps predictably, the salaries of charity employees have attracted some attention in the media since the new register was launched. Details of any regulatory alerts that are issued in relation to a charity are now available on the first page of its profile.
Visitors to the register are also able to conduct more detailed searches for charities, using information such as income and location.
We have become aware of some glitches with the revamped register and so we would encourage all our charity clients to check the information available for their charity on the register.
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