CAF COMMENT: CHARITY COMMISSION'S RESPONSE TO THE CONSULTATION ON THE ANNUAL RETURN

3 January 2018

Commenting on the Charity Commission’s response to the consultation on the annual return, Sir John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said: “It’s good that the Commission has listened to some of the concerns raised across the sector. Transparency is vital, but we must be careful not to put more onerous burdens of reporting on charities than apply to other sectors such as business.

“We are concerned about plans to collect extensive information about overseas donations. Of course it is right that overseas donations to political parties are monitored and limited because of the potential influence on our democracy, but British civil society is global and we should not take a narrow view. A huge amount of money is given to British charities from abroad and a huge amount is donated overseas from the UK because human need does not respect borders. Those overseas donations are important and we would not wish to place barriers in their way or give any impression that they are unwelcome.”