Annual report shows rate of progress being made by charity regulator
Concerns about Scottish charities rose by over a quarter last year, a new report has shown.
Despite this the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), which published the study, said it was beating its performance targets for handling these concerns, effectively dealing with 83% of cases within nine months.
In total 337 concerns about registered charities were raised in the year to the end of March 2015. This contrasts with 267 for the previous year.
Over the same period, some 752 new charities were registered, the review shows, a figure which is down on the previous year’s total of 880.
Nine charities were refused charity status in the last year.
Our work...demonstrates how we reinforce the public’s confidence in charities - David Robb
In terms of its online performance, the review showed the regulator was continuing to reach out via its digital platforms with some 77% of charities registering for its online services, up from 72% last year.OSCR’s annual budget increased by £50,000 to £3m with £2m of this attributed to staff costs.
Running costs fell from £705,000 to £571,000 compared with the previous year, while property costs rose by £10,000 to £271,000 and staff costs went up by £62,000 to £2m.
However, the regulator underspent on its budget by £108,000 and underspent on its total annual budget by £128,000, the review states.
Its objectives for the years 2014-2017 will be to help the public have more confidence in charities, help trustees comply with legal duties, keep registration and reporting straightforward and proportionate and continually improve the way it delivers services.
One employee earned between £80,000 and 85,000, marginally up from the previous year while average pay for an employee at OSCR is £28,166.
Chief executive David Robb said it had been a “busy and productive” year for the charity regulator.
He said: “In addition to increasing workload and still meeting our targets, we’re also achieving increased efficiency and proactively engaging with the sector on key developments.
“Our work and impact, set out in our latest review, demonstrates how we reinforce the public’s confidence in charities and their work.”
