Regulator says it could soon struggle to meet increasing costs with static income

Scotland’s charity watchdog says it is looking at charging charities in a bid to boost its “insufficient” income.

In its annual report for 2016-2017, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) said it is waiting to see the outcome of a consultation soon to be undertaken by the Charity Commission before looking at considering "stakeholder charging models."

OSCR has received £3 million a year since 2013 but is concerned that its sizeable expenses are rising disproportionality.

Staff costs are the regulator’s biggest cost burden with £2.15m being spent on staff in 2017/18 out of the regulator’s total expenditure of £2.99m.

It had 48.39 full-time equivalent employees on average during the year.

OSCR says a lack of funding has meant some staff positions have taken longer to fill than usual.

“Given the financial pressures which we face corporately, vacancies are remaining unfilled considerably longer than was previously the case, which we recognise has the potential to create delivery pressures at a personal level, in some business areas,” it states in the report.

“Our overall salary bill will increase considerably. Since our budget has remained static, once we have met salary and running costs to which we are contractually bound, the potential to deliver and improve our business within budget will be challenging.”

Lack of funding could also stymie plans for online expansion. “Given the funding challenges which the static budget allocation poses, compounded by the annularity of funding, it is unclear how we will be able to meet our commitment to expanding online services without specific project funding being secured.”

Elsewhere the annual review showed OSCR approved 961 applications for charitable status, a 13% increase on the previous year.

David Robb, OSCR chief executive, said: “Across the year we have seen evidence of dedicated, selfless work by tens of thousands of charity trustees across Scotland. It is their commitment to delivering inspirational charitable work that lies at the core of this wonderful sector, and we feel privileged to be able to support them.

‘Ultimately, all of our work has contributed towards public trust. We are pleased to see evidence from our recent charity surveys that trust levels have remained generally the same.

“However, we would like to stress how important it is for charities to share their stories – let everyone know about the great work you do, and if things go wrong, be candid with your supporters and the wider public to maintain their confidence.”