​House of Lords hears of contrasting attitudes to charity sector from UK and Scottish governments

UK governments have displayed a “toxic” attitude towards charities, it was claimed this week.

Martin Sime, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, said MPs – principally Tory ones - had often gone too far in their criticisms of the third sector.

Speaking at a House of Lords select committee on charities, he contrasted Westminster’s attitude to that of Holyrood.

Sime said the relationship between charities and the Scottish Government is much more constructive.

The environment in Westminster is quite toxic towards charities, and charities don't feel they wish to be associated with that

Westminster’s confrontational stance had, in part, led to Scottish charities backing away from UK-wide regulation.

It was announced this week that Scottish charities do not want to be part of the new Fundraising Preference Service.

Sime said: "They [Scottish charities] thought the evidence that was coming to their mind was that the environment in Westminster was quite toxic towards charities, and they didn't feel that they wished to be associated with that."

In Scotland, however, he said charities "contribute to the development of policy in Scotland in a way that is much more difficult for them to do so at a UK level."

Speaking about criticisms of charity fundraising which have been levelled at the sector, Sime added: "There is no doubt there is a feeling abroad that it is industrial-scale fundraising that has caused a lot of the problems.

“And the failure to manage reputation within the provision of fundraising by the very large charities, most of which are not headquartered in Scotland, has generated a lot of those issues.

"There needs to be a more strategic view among the fundraising community, and charities themselves need to take responsibility for some of those issues, not just individually but collectively."

The difference between the Westminster and Holyrood systems was touched upon by David Robb, chief executive of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, who also spoke at the Lords.

He said: “We have a government of a different persuasion and I think some of the interactions between the body politic and civil society in Scotland takes on a different character as a result. That can change as governments change."