Charity matters

Charity evolved from an individual’s determination to help those not provided for by the state. Its value to society is dependent upon independence of that state and philanthropy.

The charity sector, now rebranded the voluntary sector, is worth £180.3bn in recycled profit and assets, all tax free. If our society is indeed “broken”, then this money could and should have gone a long way to fixing it. However 49% of charitable bodies’ annual returns fail to provide even broad details of how this money is spent.

Philanthropy cannot be ensured, yet charities remain unaccountable for the quality of their services, or the effective use of their money.

This fundamental flaw in third sector provision was not addressed by the Charities Act 2006, enacted to increase government control and use of this socially influential sector.

The Act created new charitable purposes, explicitly mirroring government policies and, more crucially, appeared to attempt to convert a non-ministerial regulatory body, the Charity Commission,