Not for profit enews - February 2011
Welcome to our monthly e-newsletter - designed to keep you informed of the latest news for charities, voluntary organisations, small businesses and individuals. We hope you will find it useful - suggestions are always welcomed. Do let us know if your email contact details are incorrect, and please contact us if you have any questions. Remember, we're here to help.
Contents
- Voluntary Sector Finance
- Voluntary Sector Governance
- Other News
Voluntary Sector Finance
Charity Tax Map
The Charity Tax Group, supported by the Nuffield Foundation, has produced a ‘Charity Tax Map’ showing the eighteen different taxes that charities may pay, using a sample of organisations. The sample tested indicated an average of four pence per pound is paid by charities on tax. The ‘map’ gives explanations of different tax regulations, the operation of any relevant reliefs and costings.
HMRC employers’ PAYE tools online
The ‘Employer CD-ROM’ produced by HMRC has been replaced by new ‘Basic PAYE tools’ which can be downloaded from the BusinessLink website, which also contains instructions how to use the new tools, and which areas have been updated from the CD-ROM version.
Beware the hidden costs of bidding to run existing services
A news article has highlighted the risks of bidding for existing services after a homeless charity based in Darlington was held to account by an employment tribunal under Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE). The tribunal is requiring the charity to either employ or pay redundancy costs of the employees of the organisation formerly providing the service.
Voluntary Sector Governance
Charity Fraud higher than expected
A National Fraud Authority report estimates that approximately 2.5% of charity turnover is lost to fraud. This estimate, collated from responses from a thousand charities, is much higher than previous estimates or reports, resulting in calls for charities to review their own fraud prevention and detection policies. Articles by Civil Society and the Charity Commission give some tips.
For more ideas on tackling fraud, read our article ‘Fraud in the Not for Profit Sector’ or the Charity Commission guidelines on Internal Financial Controls.
Measuring outcomes
The Charities Evaluation Services have produced a research report investigating already available toolkits, frameworks and indicator charts which are available to charities to help identify and measure the outcomes of their work in a range of contexts.
End of asset clawbacks
Ministers are encouraging charities to make best use of the use of their assets after announcing the abolition of rules requiring the ‘clawback’ of central government grants if assets purchased with the funds are later not used for their original purpose. The announcement, made by the department for Communities and Local Government, initially refers to the Single Regeneration Budget, Urban Programme, City Challenge and Inner Area Grants, but ministers have urged charities to get in touch if other grant programmes are affected.
Other News
Good news on cuts to the London Councils’ Grants Budget
After a period of bad news for the voluntary sector, a small victory has been won after clients of the Roma Support Group, a London based charity (of which one of our staff is treasurer), took London Councils to court claiming that the process of consultation over cuts made during the end of 2010 was unlawful as it breached all 3 Public Sector Equalities Duties. As a result all decisions made by London Councils on 14 December to terminate existing commissions have been quashed, and a new period of consultation must begin. This affects 307 commissions in total: the London Voluntary Service Council has more details. This judgment recognises the concerns that many in the sector have had over the speed at which decisions have been made, and is the first defeat that a government organisation has faced since starting to implement the cuts.
Lobby your local MP
New conservative MP Robert Halfon has written a thought-provoking piece on The Guardian's Voluntary Sector Network: 'Want to successfully lobby your MP? Make it personal and make it local'. He explains how mass mailings, photocalls and event invitations do not help charities to stand out, but building a personal relationship is mutually beneficial and rewarding for both Charity and MP.
Right to Provide
Three Gotham Erskine clients featured in a Third Sector article about public sector service providers striking out for independence from Government. A November 2010 Cabinet Office announcement set out the ‘Right to Provide’, allowing public sector bodies to set up their services as independent organisations. Our client, Social Enterprise London, has produced a guide to the conversion process.
Contact us
To discuss your charity accounting needs, please contact a member of our Not for Profit sector team, email charities@mhllp.co.uk or send us an enquiry online.
