DCH 53 Mr Ian Clark
-----Original Message-----From:
Ian Clark [mailto:ian.clark@diochi.org.uk] Sent: 09 June
2004 15:16To: scrutiny@parliament.ukCc: IF Institute
of Fundraising ; Ian Clark (home)Subject: Draft Charities
Bill, chapter 9, s27: Payment of Trustees
Dear Sirs
I have nearly 30 years
experience as a voluntary Trustee of several different medium-sized
national charities, including terms of office as Chair and Treasurer.
I have also acted a Secretary of several small local charities
in different parts of the country. During my professional
life as a management consultant I advised (for fees) the Boards
of quite a few more charities and not-for-profit organisations,
as well as scores of commercial companies. I currently work
as a fundraising adviser for an umbrella body for local charities.
I agree with thrust of
most of the draft proposals, although I would have preferred to
have seen clauses included to permit moderate trading.
I would however argue
strongly against allowing payments to certain trustees for services
rendered. The proposed conditions under which this might
happen are fairly loose, and could have been applied to most of
the charities that I have had contact with. My worry is
that these would be the "thin end of the wedge", and
that an increasing number of Trustees would find reasons for being
paid for particular services. Once one Trustee on a Board
is paid, it would be difficult to prevent others applying, and
could lead to a "two-tier" Board mentality.
One of the reasons that
the public broadly trust charities in the UK is that they are
overseen by independent Trustees who have no financial interest
in the output of the charity. Once a growing proportion
of Trustees are paid, even if the amounts are reasonable and small
in relation to the charity's income, this public trust will gradually
erode. The general public will not be able to distinguish
between charities which pay their Trustees and those that don't,
but all will suffer a loss of confidence from the actions of a
few.
It is far simpler and
safer to draw the line at any payments for Trustees' time.
There are many potential Trustees of relevant experience and expertise
who are prepared to act pro bono, so this should not cause recruitment
problems. If a charity wants to pay for professional expertise,
it should seek out non-Trustees to provide this. Very few
Trustees have absolutely unique expertise.
At the very least, the
Charity Commission should be involved in authorising any payments
to Trustees, to ensure that there is a genuinely independent review
of the need for the payment.
Yours faithfully
Ian Clark
1 Church Lane,
Southwick, West Sussex BN42 4GD
ianclark@csi.com
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