How can we cut red tape?
27th July 2010
Good regulation helps to protect VCOs, their beneficiaries and employees. But too much red tape costs organisations time and money. Whether it is long winded application forms or long waits for CRB checks, it sometimes seems as if we spend more time dealing with paperwork than meeting people’s needs.
It's not just the impact of regulation, it is also excessive monitoring and reporting requirements and hidden costs and charges, such as the changes to music licensing – which according to the Government’s own figures could cost the sector at least £20 million a year.
All these things add to the burden of regulation and red tape – and make it harder for VCOs make ends meet.
These problems aren’t new, but the Government’s de-regulation task force will be a new opportunity to raise them. The Cabinet Office and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills have agreed to jointly set up the Task Force to identify the main burdens for VCOs and provide recommendations on how to reduce them.
NCVO will be submitting evidence to the task force - and we want to hear your views:
- What are the biggest burdens that you face – and what do you think should be done to reduce them?
- What would make the most difference to your organisation day-to-day?
- Belinda Pratten's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Comments
Q) What are the biggest burdens that you face – and what do you think should be done to reduce them?
A) Completing risk assessments and insurance forms, and paying hefty licence and insurance costs even for small-scale events at a community centre or public park.
There is a lot of paperwork needed to apply for grants from one local authority department to then pay a license cost and venue hire charges in other departments.
For these reasons the chances of organising an annual gay pride in Northampton are very small. It hasn't happened for 5 years! Perhaps jointly local authorities and community groups could purchase generic insurance and licenses to cover all community events, this would be more efficient than individual grant applications and individual insurance and license charges.
Q) What would make the most difference to your organisation day-to day?
A) Reduce bureaucracy, red-tape and costs for planning, organising and running community events and groups - as mentioned above.
Ben King, Secretary
- Out Proud & Equal in Northamptonshire.
Thanks for this Ben - that is really helpful. Practical examples such as these help us to put together a strong case for change.
The biggest regulatory burden facing charities, and other organisations that fund the public good they do by recruiting new donors through street face-to-face fundraising, is navigating the murky regulatory regime. Until circumstances allow for the implementation of the unified licensing regime contained Part 3 of the Charities Act 2006 face-to-face fundraisers continue to face a quagmire that often relies on interpretations of a statute from 1916 that very arguably does not apply to this form of fundraising.
Self-regulation, of the type we at the PFRA provide, can reduce red-tape and avoid over-reporting while keeping standards high and reducing administration costs for central and/or local government.
In lieu of the Charities Act being fully implemented we will continue to highlight the benefits of self-regulation, the importance of face-to-face fundraising to the beneficiaries it helps, and the right that charities have to ask for help on behalf of their beneficiaries, who cannot speak effectively for themselves (which, of course, does not impinge upon the rights of the public to say no).
As many will have read in sector press (Third Sector magazine, Daily Telegraph, Civil Society), the Government 'De-Regulation Task Force' has now been launched. This will be run jointly by the Office for Civil Society and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Here at NCVO we are particularly pleased that both Lord Hodgson and Sir Graham Melmoth are members of the group, with Lord Hodgson as chair.
The aim of the Task Force is to 'cut red tape', so it will be looking at the full range of burdens that fall on civil society organisations. A report is to be submitted to Ministers by early 2011, identifying practical proposals for specific changes in regulation and administration that will make it easier to set up and manage a charity, voluntary organisation or social enterprise.
The subjects that could be included are many, from health and safety, Gift Aid, VAT, the vetting and barring regime, to the responsibilities of trustees, employment law, the contractual arrangements when providing public services, data protection and licensing requirements.
Do you have specific proposals to simplify any of these issues? Are there any other aspects of regulation that should be examined?
The Gift Aid scheme for goods donated to charity shops should be simplified to encourage charitable giving and help charities carry out their vital work. Members of the public that wish to Gift Aid donated goods should be allowed to make an enduring declaration for all their donations to charity shops.
Income generated by Gift Aid is an important source of financial support for the vital work that charities deliver. But charities that wish to claim Gift Aid on proceeds from the sale of donated goods must write to the donor to inform them of the value of the items sold and to confirm that the money will be taken as a donation. The charity must then wait at least 21 days before treating the money as a donation for Gift Aid purposes.
The current process is cumbersome to administer – charities are forced to send out thousands of letters a year, which costs thousands of pounds in staff time and postage costs. This is a poor use of charitable resources. It may also damage the relationship between charities and donors who wonder why we are spending money on writing to them and repeatedly ask us not to.
Another loop hole allows the donor, having received a letter, to contact the charity and ask for the entire value of the goods sold, which means charity shops losing out on even more vital revenue and the shop being used like ‘ebay’ to sell people’s goods.
The Government should allow members of the public that wish to Gift Aid donated goods to make an enduring declaration for all their donations to charity shops, in the same way that they can make lasting declarations for regular cash donations. Members of the public wishing to make a one-off donation to a charity shop should also be able to Gift Aid their items there and then, without charities having to write to them to tell them how much the item was sold for.