Sector News

CFDG's specialised news service. Articles are hand picked from national press, voluntary and financial sector media for charity finance directors.

These are external articles and do not represent the views of CFDG.

News stories from Monday 12th April to Monday 1st September 2010:

Hedging against currency risk 'can save charities' (17/08/10)
Do charities spend too much on foreign currencies, and do they take too much risk when they do so?

Charities might lose out in Virgin Trains fares change (17/08/10)
Virgin Trains has acknowledged that charities might lose out under its new charity rail fares system.

Government enlists sector chiefs to red tape taskforce (17/08/10)
The Office for Civil Society is today launching the Big Society Deregulation Taskforce to examine how red tape and bureaucracy can be reduced for charities and community organisations.

Hurd tells charities to expect more private sector investment and ten-year contracts (11/08/10)
A consortium of charities will bid for a role as a prime contractor in the Work Programme, the employment programme provided by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Consortium with almost 900 charity members to bid for role in work programme (10/08/10)
A consortium of charities will bid for a role as a prime contractor in the Work Programme, the employment programme provided by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Government to impose cap on sector's regulatory burden (06/08/10)
The government has announced a cap on voluntary sector regulation, promising that all new rules must be made on a “one in – one out” basis.

Charities lack the reserves to survive impending cuts, warns NCVO study (06/08/10)
A third of active charities have no funding in reserve, while the median reserve level for charities which receive government funding is just one month of expenditure, according to research by NCVO.

Office for Civil Society will cut number of strategic partners from 42 to 15 next year (06/08/10)
The Office for Civil Society will cut its budget for its strategic partners from £12.2m to £7.5m and the number of the partners from 42 to 15 from March 2011

A third of charities have no reserves, according to NCVO (05/08/10)
One in three charities has no reserves to draw on, according to figures published today by the NCVO.

London Development Agency scraps plans for fund to support sector contract bids (29/07/10)
The Mayor’s Incubator Fund, which was to be run by the London Development Agency, was intended to help charities build bidding capacity, put together consortia and manage cash flow.

Office for Civil Society to slash spending by £11 million (29/07/10)
The cuts will come from the OCS itself, strategic partner v, Capacitybuilders, the Commission for the Compact and programmes to support social enterprises.

Government asks charities and social enterprises for ideas on reducing the deficit (29/07/10)
The Cabinet Office is asking the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors for innovative ideas on how to reduce the deficit.

More charities outsourcing cash management services (27/07/10)
Investment managers report 'cautious approach' after Icelandic banking collapse.

New social retail bank 'could unlock £1.5bn in investment' (27/07/10)
A new report from Acevo and Social Investment Business advises the government to create a Social Investment Retail Bank to be financed with government funds managed by Social Investment Business.

Charities advised to focus on short-term gain of early intervention (26/07/10)
Charities should focus on short-term savings they can make to local government when making the case for early intervention projects, according to civil servants.

Hurd suggests Big Society Bank could have a time limit (26/07/10)
Nick Hurd has speculated that the Big Society Bank may not be a bank and could come to an end once its purpose of helping to develop a social investment market has been served.

David Cameron will discuss VAT treatment for charities with Treasury (15/07/10)
The Prime Minister says charities could be funded in a similar way to the public sector.

Government will consider Compact when making cuts, Nick Hurd tells commons (15/07/10)
Minister for Civil Society says his colleague Francis Maude has written to other ministers stressing this point.

Charity VAT exemptions rejected in Parliament (14/07/10)
VAT rates will not be frozen for charities’ non-business activities following the parliamentary review of amendments to the Finance Bill yesterday.

Hurd says Big Society Bank will be wholesaler (14/07/10)
Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has said the Big Society Bank will be a wholesaler which will work through and support organisations that are already providing finance to the voluntary sector.

HMRC makes limited concessions on Fit and Proper Persons Test (13/07/10)
HMRC has admitted that it got its initial guidance on the Fit and Proper Persons Test wrong, but sector representatives remain concerned despite the release of an amended document last week.

VAT rise will cost charities £150million, Labour tells Liberal Democrats (09/07/10)
Liam Byrne hopes some Liberal Democrat MPs will at least abstain from Commons vote on rise.

Gift Aid rate increase unlikely, says Nick Hurd (06/07/10)
Setback for sector umbrella organisations as civil society minister prioritises cuts in bureaucracy.

Cabinet office minister Francis Maude to chair government committee on the big society (05/07/10)
Ministers from departments whose remits affect the voluntary sector will meet later this month.

Acevo calls for radical change to charity rules (17/06/10)
Regulation needs 'rebalancing' away from top-down governance to make rules fit for present-day demands'

Cabinet Office releases plans for select committee on sector and Big Society Bank (15/06/10)
Structural reform plan also promises fund for creation of new community groups by end of the year.

Exempt charities from VAT rises, Charity Tax Group urges Chancellor George Osborne (15/06/10)
An increase in the basic rate in next week's emergency Budget 'could cost the sector tens of millions'

Discussion group hears plans for gift aid (10/06/10)
Gift Aid Forum is told plans will be in place by the autumn, with further announcements in 2011 Budget.

Cross-departmental task force will seek to cut red tape for charities (10/06/10)
Office for Civil Society will work with business department on cutting excess regulation, Nick Hurd tells the Commons

Francis Maude promises new fund for community groups (09/06/10)
Minister for the Cabinet Office says Communities First fund will help start more groups in deprived areas

Trust in charities has risen in recession (09/06/10)
Public trust in charities has risen since 2008, Charity Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather announced this morning.

Radical solutions needed to create Big Society, says Maude (09/06/10)
The coalition government will strive to find ways to properly resource civil society to enable it to be in the vanguard of the Big Society, Francis Maude told an audience of sector representatives today.

Hurd confirms end of Futurebuilders (08/06/10)
'Nick Hurd, minister for civil society, has confirmed that future revenue from the £200m Futurebuilders programme will be used to provide grants to stimulate the creation and development of neighbourhood groups, the stated goal of the government's Big Society concept.

Charity Tax Group warning over VAT on shared services (08/06/10)
'Overwhelming' evidence for early introduction of exemption The Charity Tax Group has warned the government that it will face a legal challenge if it does not introduce a mandatory EU exemption from VAT for charities that share back-office services.

Report reveals drop in the value of charity assetts (03/06/10)
Charity Financials data shows total value of largest charities' assets fell by almost £8bn in the recession

First draft of new charity accounting rulescould be published by the end of the year (02/06/10)
The Accounting Standards Board hopes to present the first draft of a new accounting regime for charities and other public benefit entities by the end of the year.

David Cameron: Compact will be refreshed and renewed (19/05/10)
But Prime Minister says nothing about statutory powers for Commission for the Compact

Umbrella groups welcome proposals for the sector (19/05/10)
Plans for big society bank and national citizen service are a good sign, say Acevo, CSV and Volunteering England

Sector umbrella groups left out of Government Big Society meeting (19/05/10)
Yesterday’s meeting saw prime minister David Cameron, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude and minister for civil society Nick Hurd meet community and voluntary groups to debate the Big Society.

Government launches Big Society programme (18/05/10)
The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have launched their civil society programme at an event in Downing Street with community activists and leaders from around the country.

Coalition outlines plans for Big Society Programme (18/05/10)
David Cameron and Nick Clegg unveil proposals for a Big Society Bank and a national citizen service.

Office for Civil Society unveiled by the Cabinet Office (18/05/10)
The Office of the Third Sector has been renamed the Office for Civil Society, the Cabinet Office has confirmed.

Nick Hurd is new Charities Minister (14/05/10)
Conservative MP Nick Hurd will be announced today as the voluntary sector’s new minister, Civil Society has learned.

Sector leaders vow to help Cameron create his Big Society (12/05/10)
Civil society leaders were today quick to highlight the sector’s key role in helping David Cameron’s new coalition government build the ‘Big Society’ that the Conservatives hung their election campaign on

NCVO calls third sector summit to consider the way forward under coalition government (12/05/10)
And Acevo will write to new Chancellor George Osborne to request meeting about the 'big society' vision

Some fundraising decisions 'are causing tax headaches' (11/05/10)
Better communication between departments is needed, expert warns

Campaign against 'fit and proper person' test (10/05/10)
Bates Wells & Braithwaite says legislation will increase bureaucracy and penalise legitimate charities

Business and higher-rate tax reliefs 'could face government cuts' (04/05/10)
Warning from Charity Tax Group

UK charities could lose out over EU cross-border donations rule (30/04/10)
European Foundation Centre data shows nine member states have placed limits on tax relief

Charities 'must get better at measuring social returns' (30/04/10)
New Philanthropy Capital paper says SROI is being held back by poor quality of evidence

Reform the banking system, says open letter from sector to party leaders (28/04/10)
Better Banking Coalition wants greater transparency and a community reinvestment act, so that specialist sector organisations would get money from the banks

Schroders predicts VAT will rise to 19 per cent next year (28/04/10)
Schroders has predicted that VAT will rise to 19 per cent next January regardless of who wins the election; a scenario that Charity Tax Group says could cost the charity sector upwards of £15m

Sector's workforce has continued to grow despite the recession (27/04/10)
'Strong positive trend' has prevailed despite job cuts in private sector, says NCVO research team

Signs of recovery for property portfolio (27/04/10)
Charities Property Fund director says market conditions are improving

New SRI fund 'to suit charities in all sectors' (27/04/10)
Newton Investment Management offers unit trust

Commission likely to produce guidance on Equality Act (26/04/10)
The Charity Commission has said it is “likely” to produce guidance to help charities ensure they do not breach the Equality Act, after a group of leading lawyers warned that many charities could find themselves operating outside the law when the Act is introduced later this year

Most common charity finance pay rise was 1 per cent in 2009, finds poll (26/04/10)
Around one-fifth of charity finance staff that responded to CFDG’s annual HR survey had no pay rise last year, and of those that did get one, the most common award was 1 per cent

Charities keep lid on pay for senior finance staff (23/04/10)
An annual survey of pay, recruitment and retention in charities has showed that a fifth of voluntary organisations imposed a pay freeze on their senior financial managers last year

New appeals system must be independent, say Scottish charity lawyers (23/04/10)
They oppose proposal to replace Scottish Charities Appeal Panel with appeals to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator

Charities Property Fund buys Tesco store for £43m (23/04/10)
The Charities Property Fund has purchased a Tesco Extra supermarket in Nottinghamshire for £43m, meaning the Fund is now fully invested

Property trust for charities purchases central Newcastle offices (21/04/10)
The Multi-Strategy Property Trust for Charities has purchased the freehold of a Newcastle office block for £3.75m.

Investment assets of major fundraising charities plunge by a fifth (20/04/10)
The investment assets of the UK’s largest fundraising charities dropped by 21 per cent last year and investment income fell by £23m, according to new research from Cass Business School

Lawyers issue warning about HM Revenue & Customs' 'fit and proper' test (20/04/10)
It gives tax officials too much power over trustees, they say

Redundancies on the rise as recession has belated effect (20/04/10)
Three in 10 charities have cut jobs, according to survey by Charity Finance Directors' Group

HM Treasury urged to act now on NHS charity accounts (20/04/10)
Leading accountant Nick Brooks wants progress on talks about consolidating charities' assets

Voluntary sector investments 'have risen by a third in past year' (20/04/10)
Increase in value of equities brings cheer to charities but concerns about stock market volatility remain

Guidestar International joins forces with TechSoup Global (19/04/10)
Guidestar International is to combine its operations with US non-profit technology organisation TechSoup Global, though the two have stopped short of a full merger

'The most fundamental change to financial reporting for years' (14/04/10)
Tania Mason summarises the responses to the Accounting Standards Board’s consultation on the future of UK GAAP

HMRC outlines online filing requirements (14/04/10)
HMRC has unveiled the data it proposes charities should have to provide when it introduces its iXBRL online filing requirements, and is asking charities to give feedback

Liberal Democrats pledge gift aid increase (14/04/10)
The Liberal Democrats have promised to simplify criminal records checks, increase gift aid by 1per cent and allow banks to let people operate charitable giving accounts alongside their current accounts, in its manifesto released today.

Alarm sounds for charities in Local Government Pension Scheme (13/04/10)
1,700 sector members of public sector funds 'will owe an additional £25m'

Pension Protection Fund levies set to rise in 2011 (13/04/10)
Charity Finance Directors' Group issues warning

Community Infrastructure Levy will make new buildings more expensive (13/04/10)
Charity Tax Group issues warning after the levy becomes law

Charity expenses story 'highlights risk to public trust' (12/04/10)
The story in last week’s national newspapers accusing directors of the charity E-Act of making extortionate expense claims proves that the expenses issue remains a threat to the sector’s reputation, according to IT consultant John Tate.

Concessionary water charges for the voluntary sector made law (12/04/10)
Charity campaigners have finally won concessionary water charges for the voluntary sector after a two-year battle led by The Scout Association and church groups.

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