Chancellor announces Treasury office for the voluntary sector
Howard Lake | 22 March 2006 | News
In his Budget speech before the House of Commons, Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced that a new office will be set up in the Treasury to support the voluntary sector and guide future Government funding programmes.
Mr Brown said: “To further support the voluntary sector as a whole, which is at the heart of life in every community, we will now set up in the treasury, an office for the voluntary sector – including for faith as well as non faith charities.
“It will advise on Gift Aid, Futurebuilders and conduct a nationwide consultation with the voluntary sector to inform spending decisions.”
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The Institute of Fundraising welcomed the creation of a new Office of Charity and Third Sector Finance in the Treasury. Megan Pacey, director of policy and campaigns, said: “The establishment of a new Treasury Office linking up with the existing Home Office, DTI and HMRC charity teams, is an important step that will provide charities with much welcome support.
“The proposed review of the future role of charities in social and economic regeneration will see greater consultation and collaboration with the third sector than ever before.”
Ms Pacey also welcomed a range of new measures in the Budget to protect tax-effective giving and the reputation of charities by closing loopholes that had previously left charitable tax reliefs vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. She said: “The Institute of Fundraising firmly believes that tax relief must be in the interests of and of benefit to the charity. Any exploitation of the tax reliefs for tax avoidance purposes endangers the integrity of tax-effective giving and the reputation of charities and the sector more widely.”
Mr Brown said from April this year Company Gift Aid rules will be brought into line so that all companies are subject to the same rules and regulations and all charities will now be subject to the same tax treatment in relation to charitable and non-charitable expenditure.
HM Revenue and Customs will also now consider a major donor to be an individual or organisation that donates £25,000 or more to a charity within a 12 month period or £100,000 or more to a charity within a six year period.
The Institute has published a summary briefing document outlining these changes and how they will impact charities on its website.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) also welcomed the creation of an Office of Third Sector Finance in the Treasury.
Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the NCVO, said: “In our General Election Manifesto last year, NCVO called for a ministerial position with responsibility for the sector, and the establishment of a ‘Third Sector Office’ in the Treasury goes a considerable way towards meeting this. It is vital that it is coordinated in a strategic, cross-departmental way.
“The Comprehensive Spending Review process is an opportunity for us to develop the long-term priorities for the sector, and it is welcome that the Budget report states that the Government will consult and recognise the voluntary and community sector throughout this review process.
“In order to ensure that the review develops in ways that will tangibly benefit individuals and communities, I am delighted to second NCVO’s director of public policy, Campbell Robb, to the Treasury to play a leading advisory role.”
Commenting on the Chancellor’s speech, Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, executive director of Community Service Volunteers, the UK’s largest volunteering charity, said: “We welcome this move. It’s only right when you consider that the private sector has its own department in the DTI.
“The not-for-profit sector contributes the equivalent of one million people to the labour force and is long overdue in receiving its own office in Government.
“This initiative highlights the potential that the Third Sector has to tackle entrenched problems in a fresh and creative way.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.