Charity Commission
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Regulator to play bigger role in supporting faith-based charities
Regulator to play
bigger role in supporting faith-based charities
- New Faith
& Social Cohesion Unit to encourage registration, strengthen
governance -
A dedicated Unit to work with and support faith charities, strengthening their governance and accountability, is to be established by the Charity Commission with funding provided by the Department of Communities and Local Government.
The Faith and Social Cohesion Unit will provide support and advice to faith groups through outreach work, capacity building and training, publications and guidance, and aims to
* improve the Commission's and society's understanding of faith charities;
* engage with faith communities to identify and support organisations that could be but are not currently registered with the Commission;
* assist faith charities to improve their standards of governance and accountability and thereby increase their effectiveness; and
* work collaboratively to achieve and promote well run and effectively regulated faith charities.
The Unit will initially work primarily with Muslim charities and communities; work with other faith communities will follow at a later stage. The Commission continues to have an active engagement with a range of faith charities, including a series of seminars and events with minority faith charities which have taken place during 2006 and 2007.
Dame Suzi Leather, Chair of the Charity Commission, said:
"Today's announcement recognises that the Charity Commission has an essential part to play in building community cohesion and tackling extremism by supporting faith-based charities, both in strengthening their governance and in promoting the valuable contribution they make to society. This new unit will allow us to continue and develop our work with faith based charities to promote good practice and provide specialist advice, guidance and training to trustees.
"Many faith-based organisations do not realise they have the potential to register and gain the benefits of charitable status. The new team will also work within faith communities to promote awareness of the need to register, of good governance requirements, and of the Commission's role as the independent regulator."
Ends.
Notes to editors:
1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator for charitable activity in England and Wales. See http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk for further information.
2. The Charity Commission will receive £600,000 a year in 2007/8 and 2008/9 from the Department of Communities and Local Government to help establish the new Faith & Social Cohesion Unit. Additional funding of £200,000 a year will come from within the Commission's existing budget.
3. The announcement of DCLG funding for the Faith & Social Cohesion Unit within the Charity Commission was made by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP, as part of the Preventing Violent Extremism - winning hearts and minds strategy announced today. See http://www.communities.gov.uk for further information.
4. There are over 23,000 faith charities on the Central Register of Charities. These include charities established specifically to advance a particular faith as well as charities whose faith or religious belief is the motivation for the charitable activity undertaken.
5. The Charities Act 2006 makes a number of changes to the registration requirements for charities which will affect faith charities. From 23 April 2007 most charities with an income of over £5000 per year will need to register with the Charity Commission. The Act also changes the rules about registered places of worship which were previously excepted from registration and which must now register. There are also currently some exceptions for particular groups of Christian religious charities, which will be removed as further parts of the Act are implemented. This will mean that many religious charities will have to register with the Commission for the first time. Additionally, in the Commission's experience, there are many religious organisations including places of worship that could already be registered but which do not realize that they may have the potential to be a charity.
