Charity Commission
 Printable version
|
 E-mail this to a friend
|
Joining up to keep charities safe from Terrorism - Charity Commission responds to Government review
Making charities safe from terrorist involvement and exploitation is vital and requires close co-operation between the regulator, the sector and the rest of government, says the Charity Commission in its initial response to the Government's review of terrorist financing in the charitable sector.
The charity regulator has welcomed the review, which includes recommendations for the Commission to enhance its current work in reducing the risk of terrorist exploitation of charities. The Commission will publish a full response to the consultation, and set out plans to increase its capacity in this area, after further discussions with the charity sector.
The Commission's strategy for identifying and minimising the risk of terrorist exploitation of charities will include four strands of work:
* Oversight - proactively identifying issues of concern
* Intervention - acting when necessary to safeguard charity property and beneficiaries
* Awareness - strengthening and supporting the sector's own capacity to identify and minimise risk, supporting good governance and spreading good practice
* Co-operation - working collaboratively with law enforcement agencies and other regulators with a role to play in countering terrorism
The Commission will continue to take an evidence-based approach, act independently and objectively, and follow its risk assessment procedures in any case involving allegations of terrorist abuse of a charity or charitable assets.
The Treasury has already committed additional funding of £1m in 2007/08 to increase the Commission's capacity for tackling terrorist links to charities and promoting public trust and confidence in charities.
Andrew Hind, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, said:
"As the independent regulator, the Charity Commission is completely committed to partnership with Government and the sector in combating terrorism. The scale of terrorist involvement with charities has been small, but any links between charities and terrorist activity are totally unacceptable. Making charities safe from terrorist exploitation is essential to ensuring they can continue their vital work, and critical to maintaining the public's trust and confidence.
"We all acknowledge that the best way to do this is with the help and expertise of the sector itself. We will take soundings on our approach with the charity sector before setting out in detail our response to the review, and our proposals for increasing the Commission's capacity to respond to the terrorist threat to charities."
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 Home Office/HM Treasury Review and Consultation on Safeguards to Protect the Charitable Sector from Terrorist Abuse was published on 10 May and is available at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk Responses to the review are requested by 2 August 2007.
3. The Charity Commission was consulted on the development of the review, along with a number of other departments, public bodies and charity sector organisations.
For more information please contact the Charity Commission press office on 020 7674 2332 or out of hours on 07785 748 787
