NCVO respond to public benefit case decision

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has responded to today’s decision by the Upper Tribunal on the issue of charities, public benefit and fee charging.  The case, which went before the Upper Tribunal in May, draws on two sets of proceedings exploring what educational charities charging high fees must do in order to meet the public benefit requirement.  NCVO has a long-standing interest in charity law and acted as an intervener in the case.

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of NCVO, said: ‘This case is the most significant development in charity law for nearly 50 years.  It reaffirms that public benefit is the cornerstone of charitable law, and sets out how to make this fit for purpose in the 21st century.  It is positive that the Tribunal have borne in mind NCVO’s argument that the Tribunal's analysis of the principles and accepted that the case law may have wider implications for the charity sector as a whole.

‘The Tribunal’s decision has supported NCVO’s view that every case has to be considered individually and that trustees are best placed to decide how best to carry out the purpose for which a charity was established.

‘We welcome the Tribunal’s confirmation that educational charities must permit access to their services beyond the narrow range of people who can afford their fees. We are also pleased that the Tribunal has agreed with key points in our submission around clarifying how the trustees of educational charities should consider how they can best provide public benefit to the wider community – either directly or indirectly. This could include a range of support including the provision of bursaries, arrangements to open up specialist lessons to state school pupils, sharing teachers or teaching facilities.

‘This is a landmark decision for the charity sector. By confirming that educational charities have to demonstrate a wider public benefit, the Tribunal has played an important role in maintaining public trust and confidence in the ‘charity brand’. We hope that the new guidance that will be produced by the Charity Commission in due course will bring further clarification to the issue of fee charging charities and public benefit.’

For more information contact Mandy Murphy in NCVO’s press office on 07714 243 942 or email mandy.murphy@ncvo-vol.org.uk.

Notes to editors:

The full case decision can be downloaded from www.judiciary.gov.uk.

For more background on NCVO’s reasons for intervening in the case, see www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/publicbenefit.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) www.ncvo-vol.org.uk is the umbrella body for the voluntary sector in England, with sister councils in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.  NCVO has over 8,400 members, ranging from large national bodies to community groups, volunteer centres, and development agencies working at a local level. With over 280,000 staff and over 13 million volunteers working for our members, we represent and support almost half the voluntary sector workforce.