DCH 261 Martin Payne
Ms F Graham
Scrutiny Unit —
Draft Charities Bill
Room G10
7 Millbank
London
SW1P 3JA
July 2004
Dear Ms Graham
Evidence on Draft Charities Bill
— Clause
22
As someone who works extensively with
charities as an independent examiner (and also as a
Trustee for West Sussex County Scout
Council, Hon Treasurer and Trustee of the Scout
Holiday Homes Trust [providing holiday
homes for one parent/single income families and
families with special needs, and Trustee
and Hon Secretary to Horsham District Scout
Council) I welcome the new draft Charities
Bill, which I believe will benefit charities generally.
However, I was concerned that people
who have been admitted as Full members of the
Association of Charity Independent
Examiners, even with
a Domain of Competence to
cover independent examination of 'Any
charity in England and Wales up to the legal limit for
Independent Examination" have not,
as yet, been included in the list of relevant qualifications.
I am an Associate Member of ACIE
but I am working towards Full Membership. Unless ACIE
Full Members are included in the Bill there is little
incentive for people like me to take the time and effort to specifically
study charity accounting in order to act as independent examiners.
This will deprive the voluntary sector of a huge pool of people
from within the sector who have the skills and knowledge to understand
how charities work, and, with appropriate training, are able to
be very effective independent examiners.
Although I am a chartered certified
accountant and would thus be included in the existing wording
in Clause 22, I know that many professional accountants are not
charity specialists. By contrast, Full Members of ACIE have
been admitted to a professional qualification specifically concerned
with charity accounts, demonstrating extensive knowledge of the
Charities SORP and duties of Independent Examiners.
I understand that ACIE is
fully recognised by the Charity Commission and with the aim behind
the draft Charities Bill being to ensure that there is more transparent
management and accounting for Charities, I am surprised that Full
Membership of ACIE has been excluded from the currently
drafted Clause 22. I hope the Committee will therefore propose
amending clause 22 accordingly.
Yours sincerely
Martin W Payne FCCA
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