Government cuts reporting burdens for smaller charities

Date: 29th August 2008

The government has moved to cut the financial reporting that smaller charities in the UK will have to undertake.

Phil Hope, minister for the third sector, revealed that the new rules would potentially help one in five charities - particularly smaller ones working at a local level.

Under the new plans, the government will increase the minimum income thresholds above which charities face more onerous reporting requirements. This could mean smaller organisations have to call on accountants less regularly.

The threshold above which charities must prepare accruals accounts will be increased from £100,000 to £250,000 and the point at which accounts must undergo external scrutiny will be increased to £250,000.

"I believe it is important that charities are free to focus as much time as possible on their core purpose which is why I am delighted that these changes will see the administrative burdens of thousands of charities reduced," the minister explained.

"These changes will be particularly significant for smaller charities that are often at the heart of the communities they serve so every minute saved in form-filling will, I hope, have a measurable difference on those communities."

Dame Suzi Leather, the chair of the Charity Commission, added: "Achieving proportionate regulation is about finding the right balance: focussing on areas of greatest risk and ensuring that public accountability is greatest where the bulk of charitable resource lies."