Corporate report

Charity Commission annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025

Published 9 July 2025

Applies to England and Wales

Annual Report presented to Parliament pursuant to section 13 and paragraph 11 of Schedule 1 of the Charities Act 2011

Accounts presented to the House of Commons pursuant to Section 6(4) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000

Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 8 July 2025

HC 1010

© Crown copyright 2025

ISBN 978-1-5286-5701-3

Performance report

Introduction

The performance overview provides an overview of the role of the Commission, including our statutory and strategic objectives. It provides information on how we achieve these objectives, including how we are organised and the resources that are available to us. The performance analysis sets out what we have achieved in the past year to fulfil our role, including delivery against our operational performance standards, and activity against our strategic objectives.

Foreword from David Holdsworth, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission   

Welcome to the Commission’s annual report and accounts for 2024-25. This has been a year of continued change and challenge here and around the world, bringing into ever sharper relief the vital importance of charities’ work and impact. Whether in responding to the horrifying knife attack in Southport, the earthquake in Myanmar, or the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Sudan, charities collectively express our better natures, working in the most challenging circumstances to bring relief to those in need, and hope where there is despair.  

Many charities continue to face intense financial strain. This year, we reworked our guidance on financial resilience, helping trustees make tough decisions in the best interests of their charities and beneficiaries. We also updated our guidance on paying trustees, emphasising the vital importance of the voluntary principle – that most trustees fulfil the role unpaid – and on trustee recruitment, working to ensure the pipeline of those willing and able to serve as trustees continues to flow. 

The Commission itself is responding to pressures on our resources, as the volume and complexity of our case work intensify. We dealt with a record 9,836 applications to register a charity, up around 9% year-on-year. We registered just over 5,000 organisations as charities, demonstrating our robust work in assessing potential applications against the legal framework and protecting the integrity of the register.

A number of sensitive and high-profile compliance cases and investigations, including those into the Captain Tom Foundation, Mermaids, and charities linked to allegations of ‘cash for honours’ concluded this year. In each, we demonstrated fairness, balance, and independence. Our ongoing record in the tribunal confirms that we are led by the law, and the law alone, in our investigations. Overall, we opened 4,619 regulatory concern cases and concluded 4,375. Our regulatory authority case work is often lower profile, but no less vital in enabling charities to deliver on their purposes. In January, we gave the green light for the most valuable object donation in British museum history to go ahead, consenting to the transfer of £1bn worth of precious Chinese ceramics from the Sir Percival David Foundation to the British Museum. 

During my first year as CEO, I have begun to make the most of the Commission’s unique convening powers. In February, I assembled a roundtable with major international development charities and government departments to discuss the pressing need to secure the flow of aid to the Middle East. The urgency of that need, and the challenges to delivering aid, remain acute. As we move forward, I look forward to working collaboratively with the sector on the biggest challenges facing society.  

In the year of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan, we should remember that in facing the most desperate challenges we can build something brighter, and better. Having conquered the darkness of tyranny, fascism and unfathomable loss in the second world war, our nation renewed its determination for peace, democracy and equality. Charities that had long fought for the rights of those with least, finally saw the creation of the NHS, the welfare state, the expansion of access to higher education, and workers’ rights. 

While the challenges facing society today may be less immediate than those faced by the generation that won the war, I believe this sector can and must again play a transformational role across communities, across government, local and national, with businesses and philanthropists to once again tackle our biggest issues with joint purpose. 

I thank the Commission’s staff and Board for their continued commitment and expertise. The Commission is staffed by experts in their fields, and overseen by strong systems of accountability and governance. These conditions allow the Commission to punch well above our weight, and deliver effectively against our operational performance standards, and the strategic priorities set out in our 5-year strategy. I am proud of what we have achieved, together, since I took up the role of CEO and look forward to further successes in the year ahead.

Foreword from Mark Simms OBE, Interim Chair of the Charity Commission

As David indicates, this has been an eventful year for the Commission, for the charities we regulate, and for the nation.

At the Commission, we welcomed a new Chief Executive in David and said goodbye to Orlando Fraser as Chair. I have known Orlando for a few years, and it was a privilege to see his leadership at close quarters. His commitment to the charity sector has left a legacy that will resonate far beyond his term. We’ve also welcomed new board members, Tasnim Khalid and Alan Mather, who bring both wisdom and energy, and I look forward to working with them and our full board in the months ahead.

Taking on the role of Interim Chair is both a responsibility and an honour. My own experience in leading charities and being a trustee has taught me that trusteeship is not just a legal role, it’s a deeply personal one. Trustees bring time, judgement and a strong sense of service. They rarely seek the spotlight, but their impact is immeasurable. A good board, one that is diverse, skilled and engaged, makes all the difference to whether a charity thrives.

The sector itself has continued to respond to considerable challenges in the external environment, notably the economic context in which they operate. And changes in leadership roles around the globe – prime ministers, presidents, pontiffs – have meant new directions in many spheres of public life and the geopolitical environment. Furthermore, ongoing and rapid technological advances, notably in the use of artificial intelligence, are changing the opportunities and risks charities face in delivering services efficiently, effectively and safely.

One of the most important ways in which the Commission can support charities in responding to the increasing pace of change is by helping ensure trusteeship remains an attractive prospect. This, indeed, is a commitment that forms the basis of the strategy we launched last year. This year, delivering against that strategy, we published the findings of the most extensive research ever undertaken in England and Wales into trusteeship – who they are, and what skills and experience they bring. The research, undertaken with Pro Bono Economics, told us what those of us who have served as trustees have always known, namely that the role is richly rewarding, offering an opportunity to use, and hone, professional skills and experience in service of a cause we are passionate about. But ensuring that the sector continues to nurture a pipeline of committed trustees with a wide range of perspectives and experiences requires a collective endeavour.

This is where the Commission has a unique role, helping create conditions for trustees to succeed, and for new trustees to emerge. We are committed to playing our part, not just through regulation, but through partnership, insight and practical support.

I look forward to continuing this work with the Board and our Executive Leadership Team. Together, we will ensure that the Commission delivers on its statutory objectives, strategic priorities, and continues to support trustees to meet today’s challenges and hold them appropriately to account, all while maintaining the trust and confidence of the public we serve.

Overview

The role of the Charity Commission

The Charity Commission is the registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales. We are an independent, non-ministerial government department accountable to Parliament. We are also accountable for the exercise of our powers to the First-tier Tribunal and the High Court.

As registrar, we are responsible for maintaining an accurate and up-to-date register of charities. This includes determining whether organisations are charitable, and therefore should be registered, as well as removing those that are no longer considered to be charities, have ceased to exist or do not operate.

As a regulator, we regulate both registered charities and charities that are not required to be registered. We operate within a clear legal framework and follow published policies and procedures, ensuring that in making regulatory decisions we are proportionate in our approach.

At 31 March 2025, there were 170,862 charities on the Register. During the financial year 2024-25, we regulated £102bn of charity income (2023-24: £96bn) and £101bn of charity spend (2023-24: £94bn).

Our statutory objectives

Parliament, through the Charities Act 2011, gives us five statutory objectives. These are to:

1. Increase public trust and confidence in charities.
2. Promote awareness and understanding of the operation of the public benefit requirement.
3. Promote compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations in exercising control and management of the administration of their charities.
4. Promote the effective use of charitable resources.
5. Enhance the accountability of charities to donors, beneficiaries and the general public.

We have wide discretion in how we achieve our objectives.

Our strategy and values

In February 2024 we launched our new Strategy for 2024-2029. This strategy sets out our ambition to be the expert Charity Commission that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive.

It identifies five priorities that the Commission will seek to deliver against over the course of this strategy in order to achieve its ambition:

• We will be fair and proportionate in our work and clear about our role.
• We will support charities to get it right but take robust action where we see wrongdoing and harm.
• We will speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others.
• We will embrace technological innovation and strengthen how we use our data.
• We will be the expert Commission, where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation.

2024-25 has been our first full year of delivering our new strategy.

Our regulatory approach

We are a risk-led regulator. Being risk-led in our regulation means being proactive in identifying risks and intervening, where possible, to prevent harm before it occurs; addressing harm effectively where it occurs; and focusing our resources on the highest risks. Our Regulatory and Risk Framework (now called ’Raising a concern with the Charity Commission (CC47)’) outlines how we operate as a risk-led regulator, and in particular how we identify and assess risks, how we respond to risks, and how we review and adapt our approach.

We seek to hold charities to account to basic standards, and while we ensure concerns are investigated and intentional wrongdoing dealt with, we also focus on supporting trustees to get things back on track when they do not go exactly as intended.

We continue to put the public interest front and centre of our approach to regulating charities – making sure that the public have the information they need to make informed choices about charities and that they are confident that our approach to regulation is clear and consistent.

Our quasi-judicial functions

As the charity registrar and regulator, we carry out quasi-judicial functions, regulating against both the common law and statutory obligations which govern charities. We adopt a rigorous approach in the exercise of our powers, act fairly and proportionately and give reasons for our decisions. Where the law is unclear or imprecise, we approach our work in the way we think the courts would. The common law is developed by the courts in the light of changing social and economic conditions and values, and we recognise this in our decisions. The exercise of many of our legal powers can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal and, as a public authority, our decisions are subject to judicial review in the High Court. Decisions on charitable status and registration, the use of our powers to give formal advice and permissions, our compliance work, dealing with investigations, and taking remedial action against defaulting trustees and those who abuse charities, are all subject to appeal or review in this way. Some case reports are included within the Legal Developments section of this report.

Our governance

While day-to-day and operational management is delegated to our Chief Executive, our Board is ultimately responsible for all that we do. This includes:

• our purpose and strategy
• our overall performance
• our values
• how we meet our statutory objectives and use our legal powers
• our business direction and planning
• our Executive Leadership Team’s performance, governance standards and delivery against plans

Orlando Fraser KC became Chair in April 2022, following appointment by the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. On 24 April 2025, Orlando’s term as Chair came to an end. Following this, Mark Simms OBE has been appointed to act as interim Chair for up to 6 months, or until a new permanent Chair is appointed. Dame Helen Stephenson was our Chief Executive from July 2017 to July 2024. On 1 July 2024, David Holdsworth took on the role of Chief Executive.

Alongside the Chair and CEO, there are currently seven non-executive members of the Commission’s Board. Changes to the Board membership since last year’s annual report are that, in December 2024, Joanne Prowse stepped down from the Board as her term had come to an end and, in April 2025, Alan Mather and Tasnim Khalid both joined the Board for a three-year term.

For more information about the Commission’s governance, see the Accountability Report.

Our resources

In 2024-25 our revenue budget was £32.149m of which we spent £32.044m. This was largely funded by HM Treasury.

We had 457 staff on payroll as at 31 March 2025 (including 7 non-executive Board Members).

The Commission is structured in the following directorates:

• Communications and Policy
• Digital, Data and Technology
• Legal and Accountancy Services
• Regulatory Services
• Resources

We are based across four sites in Liverpool, London, Newport and Taunton. We adhere to the Welsh Language Standards.

The charity sector regulated by us

	2024-25	2023-24
Total charity income we regulate	£102 bn charity income £101 bn charity spend	£96 bn charity income £94 bn charity spend
Applications to register as a charity	9,836	9,008
Charities on the Register	170,862	170,056
Charities removed from the Register	4,233	3,885
Contact Centre	110,642 calls answered	111,870 calls answered
Number of individual charities supported through the Contact Centre	50,370[footnote 1]	87,428
Total trustees	924,700 trustee positions	924,026 trustee positions

Performance Analysis

Measuring delivery against our Strategy

This year we delivered robustly against our business plan, which was shaped around the five strategic priorities that form our Strategy for 2024-29.

• We will be fair and proportionate in our work and clear about our role.
• We will support charities to get it right but take robust action where we see wrongdoing and harm.
• We will speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others.
• We will embrace technological innovation and strengthen how we use our data.
• We will be the expert Commission - where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation.

The following section of this report sets out how we have delivered against each of these objectives. This includes relevant operational performance and examples of our achievements throughout 2024-25 against the objectives.

Reporting against each our strategic risks and how we have mitigated against these is provided in the governance report under.

Strategic impact measures

The following narrative also sets out against each objective how we are measuring our strategic impact, by reporting against our new Strategic Impact Measures that were agreed by our Board in April 2024.

Our strategic impact measures are formed of six key indicators - one overarching indicator and five linked to each of the priorities in the strategy:

• Levels of public trust and confidence in charities
• Trustees’ perception of the Commission as fair
• Confidence in the Commission’s regulatory approach
• Perception of the Commission’s independence
• Use and quality of our data
• Skilled and empowered staff

We use a range of data for evaluation, including the findings of our annual public and trustee surveys, as well as data from our day-to-day operations.

These measures should not be treated as fixed numerical ‘targets’ – they are neither deliverables nor things over which we have exclusive control. They are however designed to provide a broad measure of whether our strategy is resulting in the positive difference (outcomes) that we intend.

Some of the indicators provide new data, meaning comparisons with previous years do not exist. Where comparisons are available, we have provided this information.

Use of powers

The following also sets out, where relevant, information about the use of legal powers granted to us by Parliament. Previously, we have reported a sub-set of powers, focussing on those relating to compliance with charity law. We are now reporting all powers used, to give a more comprehensive overview of activity. The powers used have been categorised into groups as follows:

• Register – relating to accurate maintenance of the register of charities
• Permissive action – generally used when a registered charity has applied to the Commission for authorisation to carry out an action
• Information sharing / gathering – relating to the collection and exchange of information and evidence
• Regulatory action – used to ensure compliance with charity law
• Inquiry powers – powers that are exclusively used when a statutory inquiry is opened. These can cover a range of topics, including compliance and information gathering

When using this updated, more comprehensive method of reporting use of powers, we see that a total 13,076 powers were utilised across 2024-25 (compared to 11,108 in 2023-24). Further breakdown of the different types of powers is provided in the narrative below.

Measuring our strategic impact - Levels of public trust and confidence in charities

Increasing public trust and confidence in charities is a statutory objective for the Commission. The ability of charities to play their vital role in our society rests on public trust and confidence, and increasing this trust is an overarching ambition and golden thread throughout our strategy.

Overall public trust in charities remains high and stable, with an average trust score of 6.5 out of 10 (6.5 in 2023-24), and 57% of people having high trust in charities. Charities continue to be ranked second out of the institutions we benchmark against (only doctors are more trusted). This is a significant recovery from 2018, where charities were only the fifth most trusted, scoring below the ordinary man or woman on the street.

64% of people think charities they know about are spending most of their funds directly on the cause, which our research shows is still the most important factor in whether people trust charities. 70% think those charities are making a real difference, and 66% think they operate to high ethical standards.

Strategic Objective 1: We will be fair and proportionate in our work and clear about our role

We are committed to dealing fairly and pragmatically with concerns, including to identify a swift resolution to issues wherever possible. Across our regulatory remit, we focus on the issues where the Commission can make the greatest difference, and act decisively to return charities to compliance with the law. We explain why our processes led to an outcome and share with the sector the steps they can take to apply any lessons learned.

Operational performance overview

Occasionally things go wrong in a charity due to the actions or failure to act of the trustees. The Commission will identify and investigate problems in charities so we can work to resolve issues of concern. In 2024-25, we concluded 4,375 regulatory concern cases^{[footnote 2]}. This is an 18% increase on 2023-24, when the figure was 3,710, with the rise driven by a growing number of complaints we received about a charity.

As a result of efficiencies in our handling of incoming concerns, productivity in our Regulatory Concern caseload improved in 2024-25, with 70 cases closed per full time equivalent number of employees (FTE) compared to 55 in 2023-24.

We used regulatory action powers^{[footnote 3]} to ensure compliance with charity law 1,858 times in 2024-25 (1,557 in 2023-24).

We have continued our relationship with the whistleblowing charity Protect, which provides a dedicated, independent and confidential whistleblowing helpline, giving whistle-blower support and guidance, and enabling it to report wrongdoing in charities to the relevant authorities (including the Commission). In 2024-25, we received 547 whistleblowing reports compared to 561 in 2023-24.

In 2024-25, we assessed 3,132 new serious incident reports^{[footnote 4]}, compared to 3,106 in 2023-24.

Key achievements against Strategic Objective 1

Enabling charity campaigning within the law during the 2024 General Election

The Commission took a proactive approach ahead of the election to help charities to get things right. This included hosting a joint webinar with the Electoral Commission and speaking at a number of sector events focused on the General Election. We published a dedicated General Election landing page, which was visited over 6,000 times, and posted a blog from our Chair to highlight the responsibilities of charity trustees and leaders in the run up to the election.

Throughout this engagement, we emphasised that charities can campaign to achieve their purposes, however they must take care to ensure they are doing so in a way that is consistent with the legal framework. We were also clear about the role of the Commission to regulate charities in line with the law, ensuring that our decisions are fair, balanced and independent.

Overall, we saw a marked improvement in charities’ compliance with the law in their campaigning. Of more than 170,000 registered charities, the Commission was required to undertake just 34 new compliance cases to assess concerns. Of these, only 14 were high-risk cases, a 60% decline in those arising during the 2019 election.

Supporting the protection of community charitable assets

In August 2024, we wrote to all local authorities in England and Wales, requesting urgent action to ensure compliance with the legal responsibilities of charity trusteeship. Councils are typically trustees of charities that run public facilities serving local communities such as recreation grounds, public gardens, concert halls, and buildings of historic interest. More than 1,200 registered charities list a local authority as a trustee.

In the last three years, our casework teams have dealt with 38 separate cases involving local authorities and charitable land. A common problem arising is where council trustees change the use or status of charitable land or dispose of it in a way that is incompatible with its charitable purpose, sometimes without knowing it is charity property. When these failings occur, councils may face public criticism or financial loss for the charity. To help councils avoid these costly mistakes, and to protect vital community assets, the Commission worked with the Local Government Association to publish refreshed guidance for local authorities and a supplementary guide designed specifically for councillors to support councils in their oversight of charity assets, including when they are making decisions as a trustee.

We also initiated inquiries into charities for failure to file outstanding accounts, a critical trustee responsibility to ensure all charitable assets are well managed. Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council had failed to file annual returns and accounts for all 13 charities it manages across several years. We therefore issued it with an Official Warning, on the grounds that the council’s failure to comply with an action plan the Commission issued to it in 2023 amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charities. This was the first time we had issued an Official Warning to a local authority.

Regulatory intervention to strengthen governance

Where we have identified weaknesses or shortcomings in critical governance processes, we have engaged swiftly and effectively with charities throughout the year. We have undertaken fast regulatory intervention to ensure key aspects such as decision-making, meeting conduct and the management of conflicts of interest are quickly improved and are fit for purpose.

In June 2024, the Commission closed its regulatory compliance case into poverty relief and aid charity, Penny Appeal, following the issuing of an Official Warning in late 2023. The concerns raised had related to failures to maintain proper trustee meeting minutes to record decisions concerning a property transaction and management. The charity had not reviewed a contract with its major supplier, nor managed a perceived conflict of interest relating to this supplier. Our intervention led to key improvements, including the appointment of a minute taker, the recording of conflicts of interest, setting dates to review third party contracts, and the appointment of an external consultant to review the charity’s existing contracts and advise it on best practice. The charity will also terminate its contract with the major supplier that caused a perceived conflict of interest. 

The Commission has also continued to improve our core governance guidance, making it shorter and ensuring trustee responsibilities are easier to understand. In July 2024, we issued refreshed guidance on how to hold meetings now that many charities are using virtual meeting methods, emphasising that charities should make sure any rules around holding meetings in this way are practical and that they are up to date within the charity’s governing document.

Measuring our strategic impact - Trustees’ perception of the Commission as fair

Fairness is a core value throughout our strategy, and is key to the successful delivery of Strategic Objective 1 in particular. It is about ensuring that everyone who comes into contact with us experiences a fair process – whether or not the outcome of that process is one they would choose. If trustees perceive their regulator to be fair, then this means they can be confident on what they need to do to act with integrity, leaving them to focus on delivering impact for their beneficiaries.

Our research found that, overall, 46% of charity trustees feel that we are fair; 42% don’t know, and only 3% think we are unfair. Of those trustees who had contact with us through casework (advice, permissions or compliance procedures), 74% say that we treated them fairly; and 2% felt they had been treated unfairly.

Strategic Objective 2: We will support charities to get it right but take robust action where we see wrongdoing and harm

Our strategy makes clear that we place equal emphasis on being a source of support to trustees, but also a tough enforcer. The sustainability of the charitable sector relies on the enthusiasm, generosity, and capability of trustees. So we provide individuals with clear, relevant information and support to help them to build their understanding of what it means to be an effective trustee. However, where we uncover wrongdoing that harms an individual charity and diminishes the reputation of charity, we have been robust and tenacious in using our powers to secure the right outcomes to protect beneficiaries, charitable resources, staff, and donors.

Operational performance overview

On the supportive side, we have a number of permissive powers, which are used when a charity has applied for authorisation to carry out an action. We used our permissive action powers 3,320 times in 2024-25, compared to 2,345 in 2023-24.

On the enforcement side, statutory inquiries are our most serious type of regulatory engagement. They enable the Commission to formally investigate matters of regulatory concern within a charity and to use protective powers for the benefit of the charity and its beneficiaries, assets or reputation. 

We concluded 77 statutory inquiries in 2024-25 (65 in 2023-24) and opened 112 new inquiries (89 in 2023-24). A significant factor in the increase in the number of inquiries opened is the number of double defaulting charities (where a charity has failed to file its accounting information for two or more years in the last five years) entering into inquiry.

We used our inquiry powers 843 times in 2024-25 (530 in 2023-24). We used our power to issue a charity with an Official Warning 38 times (39 in 2023-24), and our power to disqualify a trustee 37 times (34 times in 2023-24).

Key achievements against Strategic Objective 2

Helping charities protect themselves from fraud and cyber crime

In Charity Fraud Awareness Week, we published bespoke guidance on how trustees can protect their charity from cyber-crime and a separate, shorter guide on fraud. In the preceding year, we had opened 603 cases relating to fraud and a further 99 cases relating to cyber-crime issues. Cyber fraud, particularly phishing attempts, is a key area of concern for many organisations that handle money and personal data. 

The guidance was developed with the support of the National Cyber Security Centre and draws on its Small Charity Guide. Our guidance links to several free online training modules designed for charities of all sizes. Both guides highlight the importance of reporting all fraud attempts, including those that failed, to Action Fraud - to enable trustees to get the support they need and build a more accurate picture of how fraud is affecting the sector. 

Undertaking an impactful trustee awareness campaign

Across Autumn 2024, we undertook a broad campaign to drive trustee awareness of our 5-minute guides, which cover a ‘core syllabus’ of charity governance from finance to delivering on your charity’s purpose. The campaign also included a new and updated Trustee Quiz, following the success of last year’s quiz. This contained a new set of questions, enabling trustees to test their knowledge against a range of important governance topics. 

The campaign reached 2.2m people on social media and it drove strong engagement, resulting in a 131% uplift in people viewing our 5-minute guides. 43% of trustees who engaged intend to or took an action to either share our guidance, upskill or make improvements at their charity.

Delivering economic benefit with our permissions work

We have a number of permissions powers that deliver financial benefit both for individual charities as well as the wider UK economy, through enabling innovation and investment. These include the power to authorise financial transactions, the disposing of charity property, and charity mergers.

In January 2025, we approved a set of permissions requests for Wellcome Trust, authorising the restructuring of property interests to facilitate a major expansion to the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire, a scientific research campus that is home to some of the world’s foremost institutes and organisations in genomics and computational biology. We considered the applications carefully and granted the relevant permissions. The charity is now able to expand the Campus by providing new facilities that will enhance the current offer and deliver opportunities for new activities, research and commercial endeavours, securing its status as a world-leading hub for the science and industries of genomics and biodata. As well as building new research and development space, the development will include the building of 1,500 residential homes.

We have also provided authority to facilitate the flotation of the charity Raspberry Pi Foundation’s trading subsidiary. The charity is a significant British success story, having developed the Raspberry Pi – a series of single-board computers with educational applications, which went on to become Britain’s bestselling computer in 2015. In June 2024, Raspberry Pi Holdings plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange, achieving a market capitalisation of £540 million and generating net funds of £136 million. This money will be used to create an endowment that will support the sustainable growth of the charity’s educational work over the next ten years and beyond. The event was described in the press as ‘a real shot in the arm for sentiment for the London Stock Exchange’ and Sky News commented that “the successful debut will raise hopes that more IPOs will follow and particularly in the tech sector that has underpinned the strength of US stock markets in recent years.”

Investigations that make a difference

This year, we concluded several complex investigations where we took actions against individuals who have abused their positions. or failed to discharge their duties and to protect charity property. 

In September 2024, we concluded our statutory inquiry into The Mahfouz Foundation. Our regulatory intervention included disqualification of a former trustee, Michael Wynne-Parker, for a period of 12 years. We also secured the recovery of £50,000, to make good losses the charity had incurred as a result of misapplied funds, with a further £100,000 returned to a donor.

The investigation found the trustees had allowed The Mahfouz Foundation’s bank account to be primarily used as a conduit to transfer funds on behalf of third parties. On examining the charity’s financial records, it was discovered that the majority of transactions were for third parties, and those that were made out of the charity’s own funds did not further its charitable purposes. This included deposits into the charity’s bank accounts that the donors believed were being made directly to the King’s Foundation (a charity registered in Scotland). Among other findings, the inquiry identified that £193,730 of the donations intended for the King’s Foundation were transferred from the charity’s bank account to Mr Wynne-Parker’s private company’s bank account. This transaction was authorised by the charity’s trustees.

In November 2024, we published a report concluding our investigation into The Captain Tom Foundation, which found repeated instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the family of the prominent late fundraiser, Captain Sir Tom Moore, who had previously successfully raised £39m for NHS Charities Together during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our inquiry report sets out evidence of serious failings in the charity’s management, including that the charity’s former trustee and CEO (Hannah Ingram-Moore) and a former trustee (Colin Ingram-Moore) were responsible for a “pattern of behaviour” which saw them repeatedly benefitting personally from their involvement in the charity. As a result, they were disqualified from serving as charity trustees or from holding a senior management position at any charity for a period of 10 and 8 years respectively. In publicising the findings, we were clear that, where individuals have misused the trust that people have in charities, we will take firm action to hold them to account.  

Measuring our strategic impact - Confidence in the Commission’s regulatory approach

Trustees that are confident in our regulatory approach are more likely to come to us for support and guidance, meaning they have a better understanding of their obligations and are less likely to make accidental mistakes. This is balanced with the need for timely and robust enforcement action, ensuring charitable assets are secure and vulnerable people protected.

46% of trustees said they used the Commission as a source of guidance at least once a year. 96% of trustees who used Commission information and guidance said they found it helpful.

85% of trustees continue to be confident that we will identify wrongdoing and harm in charities. Once wrongdoing and harm is identified, 92% believe that we will deal with it effectively. These results show no change from 2023-24.

Strategic Objective 3: We will speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others

We are the authority on charity regulation, leading the agenda within our statutory remit. We will provide leadership and valuable insight to promote understanding of the role of charities in society, and support the sustainability of a diverse, well-resourced, and effective charity sector. We listen to and understand all perspectives across England and Wales, recognising the diversity of the sector across the nations. Our decision-making processes have been grounded in the law and guided by expert intelligence, analytical rigour, and an improved understanding of risk.

Key achievements against Strategic Objective 3

Promoting safer giving

Following the horrific knife attack in Southport in July 2024, the Commission worked with the Fundraising Regulator on messaging to the public in response to the overwhelming generosity that sought to support those affected by the tragedy. We signposted the Southport Strong Appeal, launched by the Community Foundation for Lancashire and Merseyside to help relieve financial hardship for victims, survivors and their families, and highlighted that making a donation to a registered, regulated charity offers donors assurance that their funds will be effectively overseen and accounted for.

We also worked closely with the Fundraising Regulator and the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) during Ramadan. Ramadan is a time of generosity and charitable giving for Muslims around the world and, unfortunately, this provides an opportunity for fraudsters to take advantage of people’s willingness to give. The Commission again helped to disseminate advice on simple checks donors can undertake to ensure their money gets to the right place.

Advancing the contribution of philanthropy to charities

Our strategy includes a commitment to work to amplify donor and philanthropic confidence through robust but proportionate regulation, recognising the central role that sustainable funding streams play in delivering upon charitable purposes.

Our former Chair, Orlando Fraser KC, and Board Member, Rory Brooks CBE, have attended numerous events and engaged with both charities and philanthropists throughout the year, conveying the clear message that - thanks to Commission oversight - England and Wales have a robust, long-established regulatory infrastructure. This ensures transparency, not least through the accounting framework, and gives donors confidence that there is oversight over the funds that charities receive.

In February 2025, our Chief Executive was the keynote speaker at the Beacon Philanthropy Forum, where he discussed the power of philanthropy to encourage innovation and creativity in charitable work. We have continued to work alongside other players to support government and other policy makers to ensure giving is incentivised and celebrated.

Sharing insight and expertise with fellow regulatory bodies

In October, we hosted heads of charity regulators from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Singapore, in addition to an observing invitee from the United States. In a world currently dealing with substantial challenges, including evolving social environments with changing patterns of volunteering, climate change and more natural disasters, and cost of living pressures, it is critical that we share current intelligence and best practice approaches. This enables nations across the globe to pursue the effective, expert regulation that plays a fundamental part in allowing charities to thrive. Having been established in 1853, the Commission has a great deal of experience and expertise to share with others, and we discussed the approach to common challenges and processes, such as upcoming Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) reviews.

Delivering on our plan for Wales

As the registrar and regulator for charities in Wales, as well as England, we recognise that engaging with and understanding the Welsh voluntary sector is important to our work. We have increased the numbers of those working in our office in Newport, including a specialist Welsh policy and stakeholder manager. Our Chief Executive, Chair and Board Member for Wales, Pippa Britton, have made visits throughout the country across the course of the year, and liaised closely with sector bodies in Wales to engage positively on matters of shared importance.

Our Revitalising Trusts programme ensures charitable funds lying dormant are spent and make a difference as originally intended. The programme helps charities by supporting and advising trustees who find it hard to spend their income, recruit new trustees, identify beneficiaries, or find time to run the charity. In November 2024, during a visit to Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern, our Chief Executive was able to announce that over £10 million of unused charitable funds has been recovered through Revitalising Trusts to support communities across Wales since the programme started in 2021. By the end of the year, that total had reached £12.1 million, surpassing our target of £12 million. This is a significant milestone that will make a positive difference to people and communities across the country.

Measuring our strategic impact - Perception of the Commission’s independence

This strategic objective seeks to improve the perception of the Commission’s independence by both charity trustees and the wider public. We are statutorily independent, and this independence is key to us doing, and being seen to do, the right thing; motivated by the proper application of law, and without undue or improper influence.

Overall, trustees continue to perceive that the main influence on the Commission’s decision making is charity law. They perceive other factors (charities themselves, the media, politicians and the public) to be influential, and they feel charities should be more influential than they appear. These findings are consistent with last year’s results.

There has been an increase in the public recalling hearing about the Commission in the media (25% of those who had heard of the Commission, up from 20% last year). To some extent, this increase was driven by media coverage of the Captain Tom Foundation and other high profile cases.

Strategic Objective 4: We will embrace technological innovation and strengthen how we use our data

It is critical to us that charities are able to use digital technology to give us the information we need in the most resource and time efficient way. Throughout the year we have focused on how to evolve, and improve the effectiveness of, existing online services. We focus on how trustees interact with us so that people can easily find what they need from us, themselves. We also look at how we can share data and information more broadly, particularly to reduce any duplication in collection points, both by ourselves and from other bodies.

Operational performance overview

Maintaining an up-to-date register of charities is key to ensuring that charity data is accessible and that the public can make informed choices. During 2024-25, we received 9,836 applications (9,008 in 2023-24) to register a charity and registered 5,046 organisations as charities.

This increase in applications received is the continuation of a long running trend that, this year, has been driven by geopolitical, environmental and socioeconomic factors such as ongoing financial uncertainty, responding to environmental changes, and global conflicts.

We used our register powers (relating to accurate maintenance of the register of charities) 4,191 times in 2024-25, an 8% increase on 2023-25, when the figure was 3,875.

As a result of improved processes, productivity in the Registration team has increased over 2024-25, with 374 cases closed per FTE, compared to 342 in 2023-24.

Key achievements against Strategic Objective 4

Changes to My Charity Commission Account

In 2023, the Commission launched My Charity Commission Account (MCCA). This replaced the previous system through which charities access our online services, offering each trustee or authorised employee an individual login. It also allowed those individuals who support multiple charities to see all the information they need on one dashboard. It is now the go-to place for trustees to submit their annual returns and update their charity details.

The introduction of My Charity Commission Account was a big change for us and for charities. Whilst most charities were able to sign up to MCCA without problems, we were aware that, for others, the initial roll-out had been frustrated by technical or practical difficulties. As a result, we made a number of service improvements to the system throughout 2024-25 based on feedback from customers, including additional self-service functionality.

The new changes not only made the trustee journey easier, but we found it also lessened the likelihood that individuals needed to contact us using either phone or email. Further improvement works will be carried out during 2025-26.

Gathering data from our Annual Return for 2023 and sharing the impact of the sector

In August 2023, we launched a revised Annual Return question set and online submission service, which implemented changes under new Annual Return Regulations. This data is richer than that collated in previous years, so as to identify risks and problems in the sector earlier, help the public make informed and confident choices about charities, and allow policy-makers, researchers, the sector, and the public to gain a valuable improved understanding of the sector in England and Wales. Specifically, it includes better data on where charities might be carrying out their activities, on sources of income and their structures and membership. It also includes a topical question looking at the impact of cost-of-living pressures on the charities’ resilience and on service delivery.

We have this year continued a new innovation from 2024 of quarterly data reporting, intended to ensure we are using data about the register and our casework to better inform the public about our work and that of charities.

Measuring our strategic impact - Use and quality of our data

High-quality, easily accessible data about charities helps to ensure that they are accountable to the public. It also creates more opportunities to unlock the potential for sharing data we hold about the size and scale of the sector, whilst retaining high data protection standards, generating benefit for charities and the public.  

92% of charities were up to date with filing at the end of 2024-25. This represents a significant recovery from 2023-24 (81%), which was impacted by the launch of MCCA.

Public use of the register of charities increased slightly to 4.7 million clicks (up from 4.3m in 2023-24). The customer satisfaction score remains at ‘fair’.

Strategic Objective 5: We will be the expert Commission, where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation

Our strategy envisions an organisation that is highly skilled and operates with excellence at the heart of all we do. We aim for our to culture attract, retain, engage, and develop talented people who believe in what the Commission does.

We have focused throughout the year on ensuring we support people to be the best they can be by continually building individual capabilities and strengthening capacity. In a year of significant fiscal pressures on Government bodies, we have worked to ensure that the organisation is set up to deliver, but also to be agile in how we use our resources in a way that provides the best value to the public.

Key achievements against Strategic Objective 5

People and Culture programme initiatives

Throughout the year, the Commission has continued with our People and Culture Programme, first set up in 2022-23 with the aim of creating an expert Commission.

The main activity has been the development of an improved performance management system, implemented from April 2025. Having reviewed learning from other Civil Service departments, we have modernised our approach, moving from an annual cycle of performance management to one where line managers are engaging with the staff member’s performance more actively throughout the year. The new system will better reflect our organisational values, deliver on our corporate strategy, and create greater opportunities to both recognise and develop expertise; tackling poor performance robustly whilst encouraging and sustaining excellent performance.

The Commission also continued to roll-out leadership training in the Commission, ensuring our management cohort have appropriate time to reflect on and improve their practice.

Full details are contained in the Staff Report, including details of our employee engagement and some changes and improvements to HR policies.

Strategic impact measure - skilled and empowered staff

This measure tracks the extent to which our people are equipped to serve and regulate charities well, fulfilling our ambition in this space.

Our Technical Competence training has high completion rates. Level 1, which is for all staff, had a 98% completion rate in 2024-25 (99% in 2023-24). Level 2, which provides more specialised training for caseworkers, also had a 98% completion rate (98% in 2023-24).

Customers requested internal reviews of 103 of our decisions (including refusals to register organisations as charities) in 2024-25. This is a very small proportion (less than 1%) of the total number of decisions we made in the year. 55 decisions were upheld, 34 were changed and 14 requests were withdrawn.

Our regulatory decisions are challengeable in the courts, and this year we achieved a 94% success rate in our litigation, having successfully defended or resisted 26.5 challenges to the exercise of our regulatory powers throughout the year.^{[footnote 5]}

Delivery against our operational performance standards

In 2020-21, the Commission first agreed a set of operational performance standards, designed to provide a clear and simple picture of the timeliness, quality and effectiveness of our operational work. We report end-of-year performance against the standards in our Annual Report and Accounts.

Updating the standards for 2024-25 and beyond

In April 2024, the Board considered a review of our operational performance standards, looking at what revisions were needed following the launch of our new strategy.

It was also necessary to consider if the standards required revising in light of the impact of the 2023 launch of the new digital system, My Charity Commission Account (MCCA), through which charities access our online services. In 2023-24, we had reported that, whilst most charities were able to sign up to MCCA without problems, technical issues experienced by some charities led to a significantly higher volume of incoming queries to our Contact Centre than is typical. This impacted delivery against our performance standard for the Contact Centre. 

The Board therefore agreed to increase our call waiting target to 9 minutes for 2024-25, as the organisation responded to this increased demand. In doing so, it set a trajectory that the call waiting target should decrease over time as works to develop MCCA were delivered.

Other changes include moving some of the standards into our new strategic impact measures, as we consider them to be a better indicator of our strategic impact rather than operational performance. The number of charities on our Register with an up-to-date annual return and use of powers to promote compliance with charity law are therefore now reported under delivery against our strategic objectives.

Our aim	What we achieved in 2024-25	What we achieved in 2023-24
If you need to contact us by phone, we aim to answer within 9 minutes	We answered 84% of all calls within 9 minutes	We answered 40% of all calls within 9 minutes
We aim to acknowledge all written enquiries to the Commission within four working days and start work on our initial assessment	We acknowledged 100% of all written enquiries within four working days	We acknowledged 98% of all written enquiries within four working days
We aim to decide registration, permission and advice requests within 30 working days	We decided 86% of all requests within 30 working days	We decided 77% of all requests within 30 working days
We aim to investigate and provide a response to complaints about the Charity Commission within 30 working days	We provided a response to 76% of complaints within 30 working days[footnote 6]	We provided a response to 86% of complaints within 30 working days
We aim to respond to Freedom of Information requests and letters from Members of Parliament within 20 days	We responded to 88% of Freedom of Information requests and letters from Members of Parliament within 20 days	We responded to 86% of Freedom of Information requests and letters from Members of Parliament within 20 days

Over 2024-25, a number of service improvements to MCCA have been made and, towards the end of this year, we started to see a drop in the number of incoming MCCA-related calls. As a result, the Board conducted a further review of the operational performance standards in April 2025, which saw the call waiting target drop to 7 minutes for 2025-26. The updated standards, which we will report against for the first time in next year’s Annual Report, will be published on our website in the 2025-26 financial year.

Legal developments

Our regulatory decisions are challengeable in the Courts and tribunals, and accordingly, this section gives an overview of the main cases involving an important point of law or charity regulation which have been decided by the Courts and tribunals during this reporting year. The cases are both those which the Commission was a party to, and those in which we otherwise have a notable interest. Each decision is invaluable in helping to inform our regulatory approach going forwards.

One of our decisions – a decision to disqualify a trustee in a novel case involving historic, personal, social media activity – was overturned: primarily due to the activity not being considered sufficient to establish unfitness to be a charity trustee and the disqualification not being in the public interest. However, other challenges to the exercise of our regulatory powers and decisions were successfully defended, with our actions endorsed and/or our decisions upheld by the First Tier Tribunal (the Tribunal). These included resisting a trustee’s application for a costs Order against us; our disqualification of a trustee due to misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of their charity (misconduct and mismanagement); our refusal to register an organisation as a charity due to its lack of charitable status; our appointment of an Interim Manager (IM) for a charity due to misconduct and mismanagement and/or the need to protect the charity’s property; and our refusal to disclose the names of charity trustees who had been granted a dispensation  from being named  on the Register of Charities (the Register). Also included is a case which has important implications regarding whether charity trustees are covered by whistleblowing protections in which the Commission was granted intervener status. 

Mond v The Charity Commission for England and Wales [2025] UKFTT 103 (GRC)

This Tribunal decision, given on 6 February 2025, involved an appeal against the Commission’s decision to disqualify Mr Mond from being a charity trustee for a term of two and a half years (the decision). The disqualification Order (the Order), which was issued in April 2024, also prevented him from being a trustee for any charity (i.e. whether registered or not), or from holding any senior management position within a charity.

The legal test for discretionary disqualification is found in section 181A of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act). The Commission has to demonstrate that:

• one of 6 conditions A-F is satisfied; and
• the person is unfit to be a trustee; and
• the making the Order is desirable in the public interest in order to protect public trust and confidence in charities

In this case, the Commission relied upon condition F - any conduct damaging or likely to be damaging to public trust and confidence in charities.

The Tribunal’s role in the appeal was to consider the matter completely afresh, based on all of the evidence now available, and if appropriate, to substitute the Commission’s decision with its own.  

The Commission investigated following reports received that social media activity by Mr Mond, which was carried out in his personal capacity (i.e. not on behalf of any of the charities for which he was a trustee) was anti-Muslim and/or Islamophobic. This comprised two Facebook posts made by him in 2014 and 2016 respectively, and two likes in 2017 of two Facebook posts made by an anti-Muslim commentator who is banned from the UK due to the risks their extreme views pose. The activity was reported in the media in October 2021 and January 2022.  

The Tribunal placed weight on the limited and spontaneous nature of the conduct, as well as distinguishing between different types of social media activity (for example, ‘posts’ are likely to be treated as more significant or serious than ‘likes’). The Tribunal also highlighted that this case is not intended to provide any broader principles about the use of social media by charity trustees. The time which had passed since the activity occurred and the frequency of the activities were also relevant factors.

Although the Tribunal agreed with the Commission that the conduct (the combined social media activity) met Condition F and was capable of damaging public trust and confidence in the charities of which Mr Mond was a trustee (i.e. the first part of the test was satisfied), it concluded that his activity was not sufficient to establish that he is unfit to be a trustee, or that it was desirable in the public interest for the Order to be made. Accordingly, Mr Mond’s appeal was allowed and the Commission’s Order was quashed.  

This case is important for a number of reasons, including because a) it is the first trustee disqualification decision by the Commission which has been successfully appealed; b) it involved the first trustee disqualification by the Commission for social media activity; and c) it is the shortest disqualification term ordered by the Commission which has been appealed to the Tribunal to date.

Mond v The Charity Commission for England and Wales (Unreported)

Having successfully appealed the Commission’s disqualification Order (referred to above), Mr Mond made an application for a costs Order against the Commission for part of the disqualification appeal hearing. The Commission opposed the application. This was determined by the Tribunal on 26 March 2025. For a costs Order to be appropriate, the Tribunal would need to be satisfied that the Commission had acted unreasonably, either in making the disqualification Order, or in its conduct of the subsequent appeal.

The Tribunal concluded that the Commission had acted in a reasonable, measured, necessary and appropriate way throughout the proceedings, and the underlying charity law (not freedom of speech) issue was clear to both parties. Accordingly, the Tribunal refused Mr Mond’s application, commenting that it was ‘wholly misguided’.

Rankine v The Charity Commission for England and Wales [2025] UKFTT 00387 (GRC)

This Tribunal decision, given on 2 April 2025, involved an appeal against the Commission’s decision to disqualify Mr Rankine from being a trustee of any charity and/or from holding any senior management position within a charity for a term of nine and a half years. The legal test for discretionary disqualification is set out above. In this case the Commission relied upon Condition D - that the person was a trustee of a charity at a time when there was misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.

The Order was issued in June 2024 due to a variety of trustee misconduct and mismanagement by Mr Rankine. This included various breaches of trustee duties and charity law regarding the charity’s administration (no system of well-maintained accounts and records; failing to both appreciate, and to discharge, his trustee duties and responsibilities; disregarding guidance provided to him over approximately a five year period by the Commission), objects (causing the charity to conduct activities which did not further its charitable objects), managing conflicts of interest (not declaring a conflict), plus receiving unauthorised private benefit (remuneration). The conduct caused significant reputational risk and harm to the charity; it damaged public trust and confidence in charities more generally; plus, there was an ongoing risk of harm if the disqualification did not take place. 

The Tribunal dismissed the appeal and agreed with the Commission that Mr Rankine’s conduct amounted to serious misconduct and mismanagement, over time, which rendered him unfit to be a trustee of any charity. Accordingly, the Tribunal held that the Commission’s Order was appropriate, proportionate and desirable. 

Ukraine Development Charity (UDC) v The Charity Commission for England and Wales [2025] UKFTT 00263 (GRC)

This Tribunal decision, given on 28 February 2025, involved an appeal against the Commission’s refusal to register UDC as a charity.

The Tribunal dismissed UDC’s appeal and upheld the Commission’s refusal to register due to UDC not meeting the necessary criteria for charitable status. This was based on evidence that UDC was: a) not established exclusively for a charitable purpose/s due to its connections with/lack of independence from non-charitable entities, its potential political purpose due to military affiliations (namely, activities serving/supporting the armed forces in Ukraine); and b) not operating for the public benefit. One relevant factor noted by the Tribunal, when considering the public benefit criterion and UDC’s delivery of direct aid in Ukraine, was that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Disasters Emergency Committee both warned against travel to Ukraine. The Tribunal gave useful guidance about when the Commission can consider extrinsic evidence of an applicant charity’s activities as well as its stated charitable objects when making a charity registration decision.

The case highlights the importance of an applicant demonstrating charitable status by the organisation being established exclusively for charitable purposes, and it being established and operating for the public benefit. It also illustrates the scrutiny which is applied by the Commission when determining applications made to register a charity.

MacLennan v British Psychological Society (Protect and The Charity Commission for England and Wales intervening) [2024] EAT 166

This was an appeal from a decision by the Employment Tribunal (ET) which considered whether Mr MacLennan, who was a charity trustee is or should be treated as a worker for the purposes of whistleblowing protections. Mr MacLennan’s role was a voluntary, elected one, performed on pro-bono basis with no remuneration and no written contract.

The ET found that Mr MacLennan was not a worker and he appealed that decision. In light of the potential implications of the question under consideration on the wider charity sector, the Commission applied and was granted permission to intervene in the appeal from the ET decision.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decision, given on 21 October 2024, found that the ET was entitled to conclude that there was no contractual relationship between the parties and on that basis a volunteer trustee is not a worker.

However, the EAT concluded that when considering the relevant questions, the ET had not applied a sufficiently broad-brush assessment, nor had it sufficiently considered all relevant circumstances when determining whether Article 10 (freedom of expression on the grounds of professional status) or Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination on the ground of other status - specifically occupational status) of European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) required Mr MacLennan to be treated as a worker despite the lack of contractual relationship between the parties.

It was on this basis (i.e. the ECHR aspect only) that the EAT remitted the case back to the ET for re-determination of that part. The Commission has been granted permission to continue to intervene given the potential implications for the charitable sector.

In the matter of Dudley Central Mosque – Saleem v The Charity Commission for England and Wales [2024] UKFTT 00910 (GRC)

This Tribunal decision, given on 20 September 2024, involved an appeal against the Commission’s appointment of an Interim Manager (IM) under section 76 of the Act. The charity was first notified of the decision to appoint an IM in July 2023; a decision which was maintained by the Commission when the Order was reviewed in January 2024.  

The IM’s appointment was limited to the charity’s governance functions only and was deemed necessary following the opening of a Statutory Inquiry (under section 46 of the Act) due to misconduct and mismanagement and/or to the need to protect and secure proper application of the charity’s property, given an ongoing dispute between two different groups involved with the charity.

As a result of ambiguity in the powers conferred within two conflicting governing documents, there was an ongoing failure to ensure that the ‘charity’s trustees had proper control of its bank accounts: and instead, this resulted in the charity’s holding trustees gaining and retaining control of the charity’s bank accounts.

In addition to this, the Tribunal concluded that other serious breaches of charity law had taken place. This included failure to submit annual returns to the Commission for several years; failure to act in accordance with the charity’s governing document – for example, by both failing to ensure that a quorum of trustees were appointed and failing to ensure that trustees were properly elected (based on residency requirements); and failure to follow advice given by the Commission.

The Tribunal dismissed the appeal, holding that there has been misconduct and mismanagement and that the decision to appoint an IM was proportionate and justified – and the Tribunal expressed the view that the IM’s terms of appointment should be extended to also include management of the charity’s finances.

Kanter-Webber v Information Commissioner [2025] UKFTT 00262 (GRC)

This Tribunal decision, given on 26 February 2025, involved an appeal by Rabbi Kanter-Webber against the Information Commissioner’s (IC) decision that the Commission had correctly refused to disclose information requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the FOIA). This included the names of trustees of a particular charity where a dispensation had been granted such that the trustees’ names did not appear publicly on the Register. The Commission had relied on the personal and the confidential information exemptions under sections 40(2) and 41(1) of the FOIA when refusing to disclose this information. 

The Tribunal agreed that disclosure of the requested information by the Commission would be likely to undermine the purpose of dispensation from publication on the Register. It would also cause harm to the charity, its trustees and potentially erode wider trust in the Commission as the regulator of registered charities. Accordingly, the Tribunal dismissed Rabbi Kanter-Webber’s appeal and concluded that the IC’s decision was correct.

The case is a useful reminder regarding the protection which can be afforded by the Commission to trustees when appearing on the public Register could be a risk to their personal safety.

R (on the application of Michael-Karim Kerman) v The Charity Commission for England and Wales [2025] EWHC 1223 (Admin)

This High Court decision, given on 20 May 2025, involved a judicial review challenge brought by Mr Kerman, a former employee of the charity Keeping Kids Company (KKC), regarding the rationality and alleged predetermination of a report published in February 2022 by the Commission, following the Commission’s statutory inquiry into KKC. The inquiry was opened in August 2015 (the same month the charity went into insolvent liquidation) following concerns regarding the charity’s administration, governance and financial management, and concluded that there had been mismanagement of KKC’s finances.  

Mr Kerman alleged that a large number of aspects of the report were unlawful. Applying relevant Public Law principles, the Court allowed the judicial review in part, finding that there were two irrational aspects of the report, which were quashed (i.e. deleted/removed from the report) accordingly. The two quashed aspects of the report were an omission to mention the High Court’s previous finding that the charity’s trustees had properly scrutinized expenditure on the ‘top 25’ beneficiaries, and an implication that higher reserves could have avoided the charity’s insolvency, which did not align with the High Court’s previous finding. 

The Court dismissed the remainder of the legal challenge: finding neither irrationality as alleged, nor that there had been any predetermination by the Commission within the inquiry or associated report. 

In response to the Court’s findings, the Commission promptly acknowledged that two important errors were made, and accordingly remedied the quashed aspects of the report post-judgment by amending 3 paragraphs within the 78 paragraph document (following the Court’s approval of the amended wording).

Kerman v The Charity Commission for England and Wales (Unreported)

Following the High Court allowing the judicial review in part (referred to above), Mr Kerman made an application for a costs Order against the Commission for all of their legal costs on an indemnity basis (i.e. a higher-than-standard costs contribution, which is only awarded in exceptional circumstances: often as a penalty for unreasonable or improper conduct during legal proceedings). The Commission opposed the application, which was determined by the Court on 20 May 2025. For a costs Order to be appropriate, the Court would need to be satisfied that Mr Kerman had won the case such that the whole report would be declared unlawful and removed from publication accordingly. For costs to be awarded on an indemnity basis, the threshold required is even higher due to this being punitive for poor conduct.

The Court agreed with the Commission that, whilst Mr Kerman succeeded on two aspects of his challenge, he failed on a large number of other aspects and was not the overall winner in the case. Accordingly, the Court held that each party should bear their own costs and no costs Order was made in favour of Mr Kerman - whether on the standard or indemnity basis.

Financial review

The resource accounts report a revenue underspend of £0.105m (2023-24: £0.074m). This underspend amounts to 0.3% of our net £32.149m annual budget, which reflects the tight margins under which the Commission operates in order to maximise resource utilisation.

Our funding was largely via the HM Treasury Vote of £32.149m supplemented by additional funding from other government departments to cover the cost on ongoing projects delivered on their behalf.

The following table sets out our funding limits over the current spending period (2022-26).

	2021-22 (£’000)	2022-23 (£’000)	2023-24 (£’000)	2024-25 (£’000)	2025-26   (£’000)
Revenue DEL	30,550	32,348	32,254	32,149	33,389
of which non ring-fenced	28,300	28,533	28,678	28,555	29,795
of which ring-fenced depreciation	2,250	3,815	3,576	3,594	3,594
Capital DEL	2,200	3,107	2,250	4,450	4,450

Note: ring fenced revenue DEL (Departmental Expenditure Limit) is the element of voted funding set aside for depreciation and amortisation.

Financial performance against statutory limits

The level of expenditure incurred by government departments, including the Commission, is subject to statutory funding limits approved by Parliament. It is a fundamental form of accountability that expenditure within a financial year must not exceed these limits. There are three key financial limits which the Commission must achieve and all three of them were duly met. These are Revenue DEL, Capital DEL and Net Cash Requirement.

	Revenue Del (£’000)	Capital Del (£’000)	Net Cash Requirement (£’000)
Main Estimate	31,519	5,274	33,132
Supplementary Estimate	630	(824)	(194)
Final Limit	32,149	4,450	32,938
Expenditure and/or cash used	32,044	4,364	32,853
Surplus for year	105	86	85
Performance within funding limit?	Y	Y	Y

The above expenditure was used to deliver the strategic objectives of the Commission.

David Holdsworth, Chief Executive and Accounting Officer

26 June 2025

Sustainability report

Overall performance (2024-25)

The Charity Commission is committed to sustainable development (meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs). Concern for the environment is an integral and fundamental part of this commitment. Our aim is to reduce the impact on the environment from our operations.

As the Charity Commission is on minor tenancy lease agreements within all four Government buildings, there is a limit in what we can contribute in respect of the management of the buildings we occupy. However, we collaborate closely with our landlords to promote the environmental and sustainability initiatives in place and to encourage further developments.

Greenhouse Gas emissions Scope 3 (Official business travel)  

As we are minor tenants at each of our four sites, we are only able to provide meaningful data on Greenhouse Gas emissions arising from our business travel.

Monitoring business travel to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions

The majority of our business travel is by rail, with some car usage and minimal air travel. We are working with our car hire provider to identify options to reduce the environmental impact of our domestic travel. 

Internal Carbon pricing

Due to the very limited impact of the Commission’s operations on carbon emissions, we do not use a system of internal carbon pricing, although the environmental impact of our actions is always a consideration in our decision making.

CCEW Business travel year on year comparison:

Year	Mileage (train and car)	CO2 emissions (tonne)	Cost to the Charity  Commission in train and car fares	Air mileage KM (all flights)	Air cost to the Commission in air fare	Air Co2 emission (tonne)
2023-24	548,184	42	£271,021	3,016	£372	0.35
2024-25	415,530	31	£211,720	6,217	£1,172	0.82

An analysis of air travel between domestic and international flights is only available for 2024-25:

Charity Commission air travel 2024-25	KMs	CO2 (tonne)	Cost to the Charity Commission (£)	Class	Domestic flights (number)	International flights (number)
Domestic Flights	2,866	0.64	784	Economy	8
International Flights	3,351	0.18	388	Economy		1

Mitigating climate change : working towards Net Zero by 2050

The 2017-18 baseline figures show that the Commission reported Co2 emissions of 124 tonnes as compared to the 2024-25 emission total of 32 tonnes.  It is clear then that the Commission has made significant progress in reducing Co2 emissions, predominantly through a commitment to making more use of virtual technology and choosing more sustainable travel options.

Scope 3 Business travel gross emissions 2017-18 Baseline all travel figures - Scope 3 covers all types of travel undertaken by Commission staff and the use of couriers
Scope 3 Business travel gross emissions (CO2/tonnes)	124
Financial indicators (£’000)	514

Waste minimisation and management

The gross figures for waste relate to our largest site – Redgrave Court, Bootle based on our occupancy level of 5.22%. As our Redgrave Court office is the only site in which we occupy over 500SQM, it is the only site we are required to report on under the Greening Government initiative.

All waste on site at Redgrave Court is recycled, with nil to landfill.

We have collaborated with our landlords across all sites to promote waste reduction, and efficient use of recycling schemes, for example through reducing under desk waste bins, staff are encouraged to use site recycling facilities.

Redgrave Court year on year waste consumption

Based on RGC occupancy of 5.22%	Waste to energy (tonne)	Recycling (tonne)	WEEE (tonne)	Landfill (tonne)	Food bio energy recovery (tonne)	Water (cubic metres)
2019-20	1.50	3.59	0.15	0.00	0.29	Data not available
2020-21	0.62	7.32	0.51	0.00	0.07	Data not available
2021-22	0.26	0.58	0.05	0.00	0.06	550
2022-23	2.14	1.03	0.02	0.00	0.18	433
2023-24	2.70	4.16	0.16	0.00	0.20	369
2024-25	2.08	2.09	0.67	0.00	0.30	261

The total cost of waste for the whole Redgrave Court site is £49,116, so based on our site occupancy of 5.22% that would suggest that the Commission’s share is £2,563, although that is clearly an approximation.

Through participation in site wide water efficiency measures the Commission has delivered a sustained reduction in water consumption across the last four years.

Paper use

Through measures such as reducing the numbers of printers in Commission offices, regular communications around minimising hard copy printing and the removal of cupboard storage (instead storing data electronically) there has been an overall reduction in paper usage in 2024-25.

	Cost (£)	Total Reams	Paper type
2022-23	1,054	260	A4 (A4 only)
2023-24	635	270	A4 (A4 only)
	26	5	A3
2024-25	524	235	A4 (A4 only)

Our accommodation footprint

In line with the principles set out in the Government Estate Strategy we continue to review our office accommodation requirements.

In respect of our Taunton site, we have reduced our footprint by 300sqm, making annual savings of £27k. Furthermore, we will be reducing our Taunton footprint by relocating to alternative, more energy efficient, premises later in 2025.

We have redesigned our offices to provide more collaborative spaces in line with the Government Estates Strategy and work to the Smart Code of Practice PAS3000.

We continue to work with the Government Property Agency to consider our London footprint, as part of the Whitehall Campus Review and the Levelling Up Agenda.

Our office efficiency ratio is now at 3.92m²/FTE, which is already significantly below the Government target for office utilisation of 6m²/FTE by 2030.

CCEW Sustainability Policy and planning 2025-26

During 2024-25 we revised our Sustainability Plan and approved a new Sustainability Policy, which has been published on our internal website. Both documents outline our goals and expectations from all staff in contributing to sustainability initiatives, e.g. using recycling schemes in place across the Charity Commission sites, and overall energy efficiency responsibilities.

Summary of the key areas we have and will continue to work towards:

• We engage with and encourage our landlords to develop carbon reduction plans to map out the journey towards net zero for each of our sites
• We are working to reduce the impact of our business travel on carbon emissions
• We continue to monitor, review, and identify further actions to reduce our carbon footprint
• We will continue to reflect on the requirements of the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy

Reducing environmental impact – Information technology, digital products and services

Information Technology (IT) – Sustainable Procurement

All our IT purchases are made through Government frameworks. All our IT equipment is either recycled for use internally, recycled through a certified recycling company who wipe all data and repurpose where possible, or disposed of in accordance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment regulations and data destruction regulations.

Cost saving Return on Investment (‘ROI’) - We return used hardware for credits towards new purchases. This increases the ROI through normal utilisation of each device and then, when approaching end of life, it is then returned to suppliers for credit towards future purchases.

Limit unnecessary printing - We encourage staff to use digital services where possible; use both sides of paper and opt for recycled materials when printing is essential. Our managed print services have been reduced by 25% in number, with the remainder replaced with more energy efficient devices over the past 2 years.

Opt for energy-efficient settings - We have enabled power-saving modes on all devices, with our PC’s programmed to automatically shut down overnight to reduce energy consumption.

• By leveraging Microsoft cloud technology’s state-of-the-art datacentres, we benefit from advanced energy-saving technologies, including optimized cooling systems and efficient energy usage. These datacentres are designed with sustainability in mind, operating at a fraction of the energy consumption required for traditional on-premises servers.

Key benefits include:

Improved Energy Efficiency - Microsoft cloud technology datacentres operate with high Power Usage Effectiveness (reducing unnecessary energy waste.

• Renewable Energy Integration - Microsoft is committed to sourcing renewable energy, further lowering the carbon footprint associated with our IT operations
• Scalability and Optimization - unlike static on-premises servers, cloud infrastructure scales dynamically, preventing energy overuse during low-demand period
• Cloud computing can significantly reduce energy consumption compared to on-premises data centres. Microsoft’s cloud technology services are reported to be 93% more energy-efficient than traditional on-premise solutions
• Switching to cloud computing can reduce CO2 emissions by 60 million tons annually, equivalent to taking 22 million vehicles off the road
• Cloud computing enables auto-scaling, which dynamically adjusts server resources based on demand, optimising energy use
• Regular optimization and performance tuning of cloud resources can further enhance energy efficiency and reduce operational costs

This strategic move not only supports our operational goals but also contributes to our broader responsibility to minimize the environmental impact of our operations.

Furniture - reducing environmental impact

CCEW spends very little on furniture (and therefore timber) and all procurements are made through CCS frameworks. We have reduced desking and cupboards across our offices during 2023-24 to create more collaborative spaces, with some furniture being re-used by landlords, and the remaining furniture recycled.

Procuring sustainable products and services

The Commission’s annual procurement spend on goods and services is circa. £7m and we use Crown Commercial Frameworks wherever feasible. Each of our procurements include sustainability and social value criteria.

All prospective suppliers are evaluated when submitting their tender response and must demonstrate how they achieve social value, with one of the themes (theme 3) being ‘Fighting Climate Change’.

Additionally, a mandatory schedule is included in all CCS contracts stating suppliers must comply with the standards set within the framework schedule. This forms part of the contractual documents that both the Charity Commission and our suppliers enter into.

Climate Change Adaptation Strategy - Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures requirements

The TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) 

The Commission has reported on climate-related financial disclosures consistent with HM Treasury’s TCFD-aligned disclosure application guidance which interprets and adapts the framework for the UK public sector. The Commission has also complied with the TCFD recommendations and recommendations disclosures around four thematic areas:  governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.

Due to the nature of the our operations, climate-related issues are not currently considered to be a principal risk for the Commission under our risk assessment processes, which consider the impact, proximity and likelihood of each risk. This position will continue to be reviewed as part of our ongoing risk management process.

Within the Commission our approach is as follows:

Governance:

Organisational Structure: 

The Commission is organised into Directorates, each of which has its own Risk Register within which consideration will be given to any risks and opportunities arising from operations that can either minimise environmental impacts or provide environmental benefits.

Roles and Responsibilities, including Risk Management:

The Commission Estates team lead on the review and management of the environmental impact of our activities. The Assistant Director of Finance, Estates and Commercial reports risk directly to the Executive Leadership team; relevant environmental risks are reported to Board.

See more information on our overall Risk Management Framework, including on how risks are identified and managed across the organisation.

Strategy:

Business Model:

Climate-related risks and opportunities are built into our overarching Sustainability Policy, which is proportionate for our organisation, given that we are a minor tenant in all buildings. We consider the potential impact of climate change risks on our workforce and address this as part of our overarching risk assessment.

Impact on Strategy:

The Commission has risk assessed and will continue to revisit the potential risks (e.g. rising temperatures, floods), also considering and building in, so far as reasonably practicable, mitigations, such as staff working from home if required; purchasing and using more energy efficient IT products to reduce risks in overheating; and working with landlords to understand what plans they have in place to also manage risks.

Metrics and targets Disclosures: Emissions Disclosures - Scope 3 emissions 

Under the Greening Government Commitments, we are only required to provide quarterly reporting to the Department of Culture Media and Sport on Scope 3 travel. The metrics align to the Greening Government Commitments for Central Government. 

Although the Charity Commission operations cover both England and Wales, as we are funded directly by the UK Government, we report against the relevant targets within that structure.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)  

There is a limit to which the Commission can contribute towards the sustainable development goals, given its remit, size and status as minor tenants on each of our sites. However, we are proud of our contribution towards SDG 12 in reducing water consumption and continuing with responsible procurement.

Summary of current initiatives across our offices

The Commission encourages cycling/walking to work through the provision of a cycle to work scheme and shower facilities at all sites.

Further initiatives include the following:

• electric car charging points at 2 of our 4 sites
• lights are on sensors in 3 out of 4 of our offices, reducing the amount of time they are in use
• recycling facilities and initiatives on sites provided by major occupier; staff are encouraged to use

Other initiatives provided by our landlords by site:

Redgrave court, Liverpool (1234 Sqm)

• all waste that leaves the building is nil to landfill and is utilised in a variety of recycling and upcycling initiatives
• reduced paper towel waste by introducing more energy efficient hand dryers and innovative ‘sanitising’ door handles
• planting around the property has been allowed to grow higher than usual as this promotes biodiversity in the building perimeter
• a study of gas usage in the building, with a view of switching the kitchen assets over from gas to electric is being considered
• under desk wastepaper bins have been scaled back to encourage staff to recycle more, using the dedicated recycling bins
• within the restaurant and deli areas, a hot drinks price reduction scheme is in place when a reuseable lidded container is used
• LED lighting has been installed to improve efficiency

102 Petty France, London (350 Sqm)

• a variety of recycling and recycling initiatives. All under desk wastepaper bins have been removed to encourage staff to recycle more, using the dedicated recycling bins. Within the restaurant and deli areas, a hot drinks price reduction scheme is in place when a reuseable lidded container is used. LED lighting has been installed to improve efficiency

Government Buildings, Newport (81 Sqm)

• a variety of recycling and upcycling initiatives
• all under desk wastepaper bins have been removed to encourage staff to recycle more, using the dedicated recycling bins
• within the restaurant and deli areas, a hot drinks price reduction scheme is in place when a reuseable

Brendon House, Taunton (264 Sqm)

• a variety of recycling initiatives with all under desk wastepaper bins being removed to encourage staff to recycle more, using the dedicated recycling bins

Through these initiatives, the Commission aims to achieve a 2% reduction in attributable Greenhouse Gas emissions, paper usage and water consumption across our estate during 2025-26.

Accountability report

Introduction

The accountability report sets out our key accountability requirements to Parliament. It includes:

• a statement of the Accounting Officer’s responsibilities
• a governance statement on how the Commission is organised and how it manages risk
• a remuneration and staff report setting out the pay and benefits received by the executive directors and non-executive Board members
• disclosures on pay and pensions policies, and details of staff numbers and costs
• Parliamentary and accounting disclosures, setting out how we have spent money provided to us by Parliament
• a copy of the audit certificate and report made to Parliament by the Comptroller and Auditor General, setting out their opinion on the financial statements

Corporate governance statement

Statement of Accounting Officer’s responsibilities

I have been appointed as Accounting Officer of the Charity Commission by HM Treasury. The responsibilities of an Accounting Officer, which include responsibility for the propriety and regularity of the public finances for which the Accounting Officer is answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding the Commission’s assets, are set out in Managing Public Money published by HM Treasury.

As Accounting Officer, I am required to prepare for each financial year resource accounts detailing the resources acquired, held or disposed of during the year and the use of resources by the department during the year. The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Commission and of its net resource Outturn, application of resources, changes in taxpayers’ equity and cash flows for the financial year.

In preparing the accounts, I am required to comply with the requirements of the Government Financial Reporting Manual and in particular to:

• observe the Accounts Direction issued by HM Treasury, including the relevant accounting and disclosure requirements, and apply suitable accounting policies on a consistent basis
• make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis
• state whether applicable accounting standards as set out in the Government Financial Reporting Manual have been followed, and disclose and explain any material departures in the financial statements
• prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis
• confirm that the Annual Report and Accounts as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and take personal responsibility for the Annual Report and Accounts and the judgements required for determining that it is fair, balanced and understandable

The annual governance statement below sets out the Commission’s governance, risk management and internal control arrangements for the financial year 2024-25 and up to the date of approval of our annual report. I have not prepared a separate Directors’ Report as the contents of this are included within the Performance Report.

As the Accounting Officer, I have taken all the steps that I ought to have taken to make myself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Charity Commission’s auditors are aware of that information. So far as I am aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware.

Governance Statement

The systems reported on in this statement have been in place for the year under review and up to the date of approval of the annual report and accounts.

The Commission’s governance structures

The Commission’s Board is responsible for the strategic oversight of the Commission. It is responsible for developing strategy, monitoring progress in delivering that strategy, overseeing legal matters, providing corporate governance and assurance, and managing corporate risks.

The Board comprises the Chair, Chief Executive, two members with legal qualifications, one member with knowledge of conditions in Wales and up to five additional members with relevant skills and expertise in operations, accountancy, digital and data, the charity sector, and risk management. They use their range of backgrounds, skills and expertise to provide the necessary strategic direction and oversight.

All Charity Commission Board members, bar the Chief Executive, are appointed by the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) through open and competitive selection and serve for an initial term of three years. The Secretary of State may renew a board appointment for up to a maximum of ten years.

Changes to the Board

On 24 April 2025, Orlando Fraser KC’s term of appointment as Chair came to an end. Mark Simms OBE will act as interim Chair from 25 April 2025 for up to 6 months, or until a new permanent Chair is appointed.

Dame Helen Stephenson was our Chief Executive from July 2017 to July 2024. On 1 July 2024, David Holdsworth took on the role of Chief Executive and joined our Board.

In December 2024, Jo Prowse stood down from the Board, on completion of her term of appointment.

On 23 April 2025, Alan Mather and Tasnim Khalid were both appointed to the Board for a three year term.

The Board’s work

This year, the Board has overseen delivery of the first year of the Commission’s new Strategy for 2024-29. It has reviewed quarterly performance against the 2024-25 business plan, which was mapped against the five priorities of our new strategy. This includes monitoring delivery of our project portfolio, including improvements to My Charity Commission Account (MCCA); the delivery of the Annual Returns for 2024 and 2025; and progress in developing the new charity Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP). It has reviewed the strategic risks, financial performance, and performance against the operational performance standards.

In April 2024, the Board approved a new approach to communications, with an ambition to drive understanding, engagement and behaviour change, using an audience and data-led approach. In October 2024, it approved a new approach to our digital and data, which seeks to embrace technological innovation and to strengthen how we use our data.

The Board has overseen work to update our public guidance, including approving our new Regulatory and Risk Framework (now called “Raising a Concern with the Charity Commission (CC47)”). It has reviewed progress in implementing our Welsh workplan, which seeks to improve the Commission’s visibility and strengthen its identity in Wales, and progress in delivering the Commission’s programme of work to promote philanthropy in England and Wales.

Another key focus for the Board has been to assure the Executive’s approach for responding to Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Spending Review 2025, including overall objectives and key bid headlines.

In April 2025, the Board approved the Business Plan for 2025-26. As for 2024-25, the business plan will be mapped against the five strategic priorities that form our new strategy.

Board Effectiveness

In November 2024, the Board reviewed the results of an internal Board effectiveness review, which took the form of a survey completed by all Board members. Overall, the review found that the Charity Commission’s governance is in a good place, with highlights including that the Board has a clear strategy that progress is monitored against regularly, and that discussions at Board meetings are inclusive and well-facilitated. Actions identified included that the wider organisation’s understanding of the Board’s role could be improved upon and, to address this, a series of internal videos from Board members are being developed and published to staff.

Committees of the Board

Our committee structure is as follows:

Board - overall strategy and direction of the Commission

• Audit and Risk Assurance Committee: reviews and advises the Board and Accounting Officer on assurance arrangements, effective risk management and controls, financial reporting including the annual audit and governance statement
• Casework Risk Committee: reviews risks and issues arising from casework, and considers how the Commission is responding
• Remuneration and People Committee: oversees Board-level appointments, senior executive performance and remuneration policy, and key policies and plans relating to the Commission’s people

Committee membership

The Board’s committee membership at the start of 2024-25 was as follows:

• Audit and Risk Assurance Committee: Will Lifford (Chair), Pippa Britton OBE, Shrenik Davda and Joanne Prowse (to December 2024)
• Casework Risk Committee: Orlando Fraser KC (Chair), Shrenik Davda, Ann Phillips and Mark Simms OBE
• Remuneration and People Committee: Joanne Prowse (Chair – to December 2024), Rory Brooks CBE, Orlando Fraser KC and Jonathan Russell CB (independent member)

In October 2024, the Board agreed that, from December 2024, Rory Brooks will take on the role of Chair of the Remuneration and People Committee, Pippa Britton will join the Remuneration and People Committee, and Ann Phillips will join the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

In December 2024, the Board agreed that, from March 2025, Ann Phillips will take on the role of Chair of the Casework Risk Committee.

The work of the Committees

Set out below is an overview of the work the committees have undertaken during 2024-25. As part of their terms of reference, all committees are required to provide oral reports to the Board following each of their meetings.

The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee met four times during the year to support the Accounting Officer and the Board in their responsibilities for ensuring the adequacy of risk management, internal control and governance arrangements, and that public funds are used efficiently and effectively. Across the year, the Committee has reviewed the Commission’s approach to risk management, in line with the requirements of the HM Treasury Orange Book, overseeing the maintenance of our strategic risk register. The Committee has also continued its rolling programme of deep dives scrutinising controls in place for each strategic risk, supported by the relevant assurance maps.

In addition, the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee has received and reviewed the planned activity and results of the annual assurance programme undertaken by our internal auditors, the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA), and management progress against actions resulting from this programme. It has also considered the results of the annual audit undertaken by our external auditors, the National Audit Office (NAO), which provides assurance on the integrity and accuracy of our financial accounts. All meetings of the Committee were attended by the NAO and GIAA.

The Committee has provided oversight and scrutiny of any reportable incidents such as data breaches, health and safety incidents, whistleblowing or allegations of fraud. No significant trends have been identified in the health and safety incidents reported this year, and all incidents have been resolved as and when they occur. There were no instances of staff whistleblowing (raising a concern) to report for the period and no allegations of fraud.

The Casework Risk Committee met six times during the year to review emerging themes and trends in casework risk; how the Commission is responding, or planning to respond, to this risk; and to provide advice and guidance, where appropriate, on the handling of high-risk casework. It also reviews the results of Executive-led quality assurance of casework.

The Remuneration and People Committee met three times during the year to evaluate the performance of our most senior officials and to determine fair remuneration levels. It reviewed key people activity, covering succession planning arrangements, People Survey results, performance against the People Performance Standards, and development and implementation of the new performance management system for delegated grades. It also reviewed progress against implementation of the actions identified as part of the external 2023 Board governance review, and induction plans for new Board members.

Quality of information provided to the Board and Committees

The Executive has continued to work closely with the Board to ensure it has the information it needs to support informed decision making, enable effective monitoring of the Commission’s work and performance, and to drive continuous improvement in the quality of our Board and Committee papers. The quality of information provided to the Board and its Committee was considered as part of this year’s review of Board effectiveness, which found that Board papers are timely, relevant and of good quality.

Corporate governance code

The HM Treasury’s “Corporate Governance in central government: code of good practice” (the ‘code’) remains in force. Whilst it is primarily applicable to government departments, as a non-ministerial department we adopt and adhere to the code where it is constructive and practical to do so, and not incompatible with our statutory duties.

Attendance at meetings

Board meetings

Board members	Attendance	Attendance %
Orlando Fraser KC (Chair)	6/6	100%
Dame Helen Stephenson (CEO; to July 2024)[footnote 7]	2/2	100%
David Holdsworth (CEO; from July 2024) 7	4/4	100%
Pippa Britton OBE	6/6	100%
Rory Brooks CBE	6/6	100%
Shrenik Davda	6/6	100%
Will Lifford	6/6	100%
Ann Phillips	6/6	100%
Joanne Prowse	5/5	100%
Mark Simms OBE	6/6	100%

Audit and risk assurance committee

Board members	Attendance	Attendance %
Pippa Britton OBE	3/4	75%
Shrenik Davda	3/4	75%
Will Lifford	4/4	100%
Ann Phillips	1/2	50%
Joanne Prowse	2/2	100%

Remuneration and people committee

Board members	Attendance	Attendance %
Orlando Fraser KC (Chair)	4/4	100%
Pippa Britton OBE	1/1	100%
Rory Brooks CBE	4/4	100%
Joanne Prowse	3/3	100%
Independent members
Jonathan Russell CB	2/4	50%

Casework risk committee

Board members	Attendance	Attendance %
Orlando Fraser KC (Chair)	6/6	100%
Shrenik Davda	5/6	83
Ann Phillips	6/6	100%
Mark Simms OBE	6/6	100%

Members’ interests

All Board members declare all relevant personal or business interests and these are recorded in our register of interests, published on GOV.UK.

Any potential conflicts of interest are declared and recorded at the outset of each board or committee meeting and, if needed, the individual(s) take no further part in decision making or withdraws as required.

Executive leadership

Our Chief Executive and our Directors make up the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). The ELT works together as the decision-making body on all operational matters, ensuring that we deliver our strategy. The ELT develops and delivers the business plan, assesses resource against priorities and risks, making appropriate resource allocations; plans and oversees the recruitment of staff, all with the aim of achieving the Commission’s statutory duties and strategic objectives. The ELT meets formally on a monthly basis.

At the start of 2024-25, the Executive Leadership Team was as follows:

• Dame Helen Stephenson, Chief Executive
• Nick Baker, Chief Operating Officer
• Roberto Confessore, Director of Data, Digital and Technology
• Helen Earner, Director of Regulatory Services
• Paul Latham, Director of Communications and Policy
• Aarti Thakor, Director of Legal and Accountancy Services

Aarti Thakor left the organisation in May 2024. Jane McGarry was appointed interim Director of Legal and Accountancy Services from 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025. Eva Abeles was appointed as interim Director of Legal and Accountancy Services form 1 June 2025 to 30 November 2025.

On 1 July 2024, David Holdsworth took on the role of Chief Executive.

Executive interests

All our staff should avoid doing anything that might reasonably be seen as compromising their judgement or integrity. Our policy and process for the declaration and management of outside interests continues to be in place to ensure that we have robust arrangements in place for identifying and managing conflicts appropriately. The policy is reviewed on an annual basis with regular communications to the wider organisation to promote good awareness and understanding. Our policy and process reflects the provisions set out in the Civil Service Management Code (section 4.3).

Executive governance structures

The Executive Casework Committee met eight times in 2024-25. The Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Executive, oversees the management of casework, assures the consistency and quality of casework, and considers emerging sector risks, ensuring the Commission responds as required. The Committee also enables the Chief Executive to provide assurance to the Board about the effectiveness of casework and that cases are appropriately escalated to the Board in line with the agreed guidelines.

The Portfolio Delivery Board has provided oversight of, and direction to, the Commission’s portfolio of programmes, projects and associated business change activity. It meets monthly and is chaired by the Chief Operating Officer.

The People and Culture Group oversees the work of the People and Culture Programme in developing and delivering on the Commission’s strategic ambitions for its people. It agrees project deliverables, including outcomes, milestones, and timescales, and assigns actions to Group members as well as monitoring the delivery of those actions. It meets monthly and is chaired by the Chief Executive.

The Data Protection Oversight Group met quarterly in 2024-25. The group is chaired by the Chief Operating Officer in his role as SIRO (Senior Information Risk Owner) and provides oversight and direction on data protection matters within the Commission, as well as monitoring compliance with legislation; assessing data protection risks; overseeing improvement plans; reviewing relevant policies and procedures and planning for any future change.

Our Inclusive Culture Group is a new, cross-Commission forum, established in August 2024 with the aim of creating an inclusive culture at the Commission. It encompasses all previous diversity groups and there is a direct link to the People and Culture Group for oversight of the impact and direction of its work. It meets monthly and is chaired by the Assistant Director of Finance and Commercial Services (for more information on the work of the Group, see the Staff Report).

The Health and Safety Committee meets quarterly to review compliance with Health and Safety legislation and guidance; assess risks to staff while working at home and in the office; analyse information on health and safety incidents reported, including identifying any preventative actions that may be taken; and review relevant policies and procedures. It is chaired by the Head of Estates and comprises representatives from cross-business functions, office locations and the trade union.

The Security Steering Group has met quarterly to provide direction in terms of security issues, including managing the response to security incidents; ensuring compliance with central policies, guidance and legislation; as well as adequate protection of government assets for which the Commission has responsibility. It includes representation from Security, Digital, Data and Technology, Estates and HR.

Risk management

In 2024-25, we have continued to deliver our risk management processes, while taking time to think about the future and how we can build on our current level of maturity.

The Board has continued its oversight of risk management, supported by the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC). The Committee has reviewed the strategic risks throughout the year, including tracking key risk indicators and monitoring the position of each risk against agreed tolerances and targets. Each Committee meeting now starts with an open discussion on emerging risks, providing executive attendees with an opportunity to raise any new, emerging risks to the Committee’s attention and discuss how the organisation is responding to these.

At an executive level, oversight of risk management is provided by the ELT through quarterly reviews of the strategic risk register, with oral updates on risk provided in the intervening months where required. Risk champions are responsible for promoting risk identification and discussions with all staff members, including at Senior Management and Senior Leadership Team meetings. All new starters are expected to attend an induction session on corporate risk management.

A summary of our updated principal risks as set out in the strategic risk register and how we mitigated against them is set out below.

Political and financial uncertainty

This relates to the risk that political or financial uncertainty impacts our ability to operate effectively as a regulator.

With regard to political risk, in 2023-24 we set up a General Election Planning group in anticipation of an upcoming General Election in 2024. These early preparations proved beneficial, and we were in a position to promptly release a number of proactive communications to charities about their responsibilities on political campaigning when the General Election was announced in May (see more information in the Performance Report). Following the General Election, we have prioritised building relationships with the new government, engaging with key ministers with whom the Commission’s work intersects.

With regard to financial risk, a key focus has been preparing our return for the 2025 Spending Review, announced by the Chancellor in autumn 2024. As reported in previous Annual Reports, financial pressures for the organisation have grown in recent years. Despite some incremental increases, the Commission’s budget is lower in real terms than it was in 2010. This is despite growing demand for our statutory operational work, which we predict will increase by a further 8% over the next three years. This rise in demand reflects a growing charitable sector, with sector income increasing by 61%, or £36.5bn, since 2013. Taken together, this means that our regulatory spend per £million of funds regulated has fallen from £580 per million to £333 per million since 2010, and these challenges also coincide with an increased complexity of our caseload, as the charity sector responds to, and is challenged by, global events, social change and renewed threats from extremism.

It was therefore necessary to submit a Spending Review return that articulated these challenges and risks, and to seek a settlement that will ensure the Commission can continue to deliver effectively on our statutory functions. Detailed discussions were held with our Executive Leadership Team and Board, to ensure a considered and well evidenced submission was put forward.

Delivery of people-related priorities

Our People and Culture Programme seeks to deliver the ambition set out in our new Strategy that we will be the expert Commission, where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation. This risk considers the impacts should we fail to deliver on these key, people-related priorities.

To mitigate against this, robust governance arrangements have been put in place, with regular reports on progress in delivering the Programme brought to our Remuneration and People Committee. The Programme Board is chaired by the Chief Executive, providing senior level ownership and oversight of the Programme’s work.

In light of the budgetary pressures and increasing operational demands highlighted above, careful workforce planning has been required this year. In order to ensure that this process is well managed, we have this year adopted a new, centralised approach to filling vacancies to ensure that our resources are directed to the areas with most impact against our business plan and our service to customers.

A GIAA advisory report into our workforce planning approach, published November 2024, found that it was aligned with the strategic workforce planning guidance provided by Civil Service HR (CSHR) and represents a notably advanced approach compared to other arm’s-length bodies reviewed this year.

See the Staff Report below for more information on the activity of the People and Culture Programme.

Delivery of the programme portfolio

Critical to the delivery of the Commission’s strategy and priorities is the effective, joined-up delivery of the Commission’s portfolio of programmes and projects. This year, this included improvements to the My Charity Commission Account (MCCA); the delivery of the Annual Returns for 2024 and 2025; and priorities identified through the IT Roadmap, alongside a programme of activities to enhance our systems.

Our projects are carefully scoped to ensure that the required funding and resources to deliver are secured, and to sequence the portfolio to manage demand, impact and interdependencies appropriately, alongside the delivery of the wider corporate business plan. Principal oversight is provided through meetings of the Portfolio Delivery Board (PBD), which provides insight, challenge and scrutiny to plans as they develop, including tracking capacity to deliver, budget and spend, interdependencies and risks.

We continue to maintain a suite of dedicated guidance, tools and templates for those involved in delivering project work at the Commission, with improvements identified through the completion of lessons learned exercises.

Securing our infrastructure and protecting our information

The risk of confidential information, including personal data controlled or processed by the Commission, being misused, lost, stolen or corrupted remains a risk.

We are particularly alert to the risk of ransomware attacks, following the attack on the British Library in October 2023, which had significant implications for that organisation. In September 2024, we undertook an assessment of our own level of risk and preparedness informed by a lessons learned document published by the British Library. Our key controls in this area are that we have a Security Operations Centre, which identifies, detects and responds to threats on a 24/7 basis, and that we are Cyber Essentials Plus accredited.

In data protection, our focus continues to be on improving education and raising awareness. More information about the ways in which we are monitoring and controlling data protection can be found in the data protection section below.

Casework and customer services

The risk of failure in executing casework or providing the appropriate levels of service to charities and other external customers continues to be a critical focus for the organisation. The services we provide must be efficient and delivered effectively, while identifying and tackling wrongdoing in charities.

With regard to our casework, we continue to use the findings of our Quality Assurance Framework to identify any improvements that can be made. We also continue to monitor compliance with our Technical Competence for caseworkers training, and to embed our Communication Commitments, which set out how we will make our writing clear and accessible, ensuring that our decision-making is explained transparently, and that our asks of trustees and those who raise issues with us are easily understood.

Our programme portfolio this year has been geared towards securing efficiencies in casework and customer services. See the Performance Report for more information on our MCCA improvement works. We have also this year implemented a programme of improvements to our case management system.

Governance

It is essential that we fulfil our statutory duties and act within our remit, recognising that public and stakeholder trust could be harmed if the Commission were to materially misuse the powers entrusted to it in law, or the public funds under its control.

Effective board and committee oversight of the executive has continued throughout the year. This year we continued to implement the action plan which followed the 2023 external governance review, and in November 2024 the Remuneration and People Committee (RAP) agreed that the action plan was complete. More information on the findings of our most recent internal Board effectiveness review is set out above. We have also held effectiveness reviews for each of our committees this year, which overall found that the committees are operating well. In the autumn, we developed a protocol that sets out the different matters that committee chairs should consider referring to each other, which is designed to improve reporting between the committees.

Identifying and responding to sector risk

This risk recognises that a failure to respond appropriately to a sector risk could lead to negative impacts for the sector and the Commission. Fundamental to the management of this risk is our intelligence gathering work with the sector, to deepen our understanding of the pressures charities are under. This includes regular dialogue with sector representative bodies.

We have also used external communications to alert the sector to emerging risks. In November 2024, we published a blog post that highlighted how trustees can protect their charity from financial challenges, as our Annual Return data for 2022 demonstrated that smaller charities are facing increasing financial pressure. For Charity Fraud Awareness Week, we published bespoke guidance on how trustees can protect their charity from cyber-crime and a separate shorter guide on fraud.

Our dedicated Commission Tasking and Co-ordination Group continues to play a key role in ensuring our staff understand the challenges trustees face and directing our resources to help charities mitigate or manage risks to the sector.

Data protection

The Commission is data controller for a significant amount of personal data, including, for example, the public Register of Charities, which is key to the Commission’s official functions and responsibilities and contains names of trustees. It remains a priority to ensure all personal data is treated lawfully and ethically, and is kept safely and securely and in compliance with data protection legislation.  

A corporate data protection framework maintains Commission policies and procedures alongside ongoing performance monitoring and training. The Data Protection Officer reports quarterly to the Executive Leadership Team and six-monthly to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee on compliance with legislation, any identified trends, incident management, overall performance and horizon scanning. Key activity this year has included managing privacy risks in the development of MCCA; enabling lawful transfer of personal data for research and analysis projects with external partners; development of guidance for communications teams that have regular interaction with external stakeholders; the introduction and subsequent adoption of a pilot to ensure that privacy information is provided where relevant to third parties who do not provide their personal data directly but via other sources; and the development of relevant areas of risk management for dealing with insider risk.  

The Commission’s priority is to prevent personal data incidents from happening via an ongoing and evolving education and awareness programme, relevant to trends and near-miss occurrences. However, data incidents will still inevitably happen at times, and our data incident management policy and procedure ensures that prompt action is taken to contain and resolve them where possible. This year there was an increase in the number of incidents reported overall, but an actual small reduction in the number of confirmed breaches, compared with the previous year. The figures continue to show the success of the education and awareness programme in the willingness to report potential incidents and breaches, and the recognition of the importance of reporting and monitoring to improve performance and reduce risk. The majority of incidents were of low risk and / or were caused by human error. One incident was reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which took no further action and was content with the Commission’s management and containment of the breach. The incident involved unauthorised sharing of Commission equipment. 

Work has begun on introducing AI (Artificial Intelligence) solutions to assist and improve efficiency within the Commission. These are being assessed on an individual basis and risks are identified and managed to ensure that they are compliant with data protection legislation. This process will develop and improve over the next year.

	Category/Nature of personal data breach	2024-25	2024-25 Notified to ICO
I	Loss of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from secured government premises	0	0
II	Loss of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from outside secured government premises	1	0
III	Insecure disposal of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents	1	0
IV	Unauthorised disclosure	37	1
V	Other	3	0
Total		42	1

Loss of confidential information or data breaches

There is an ongoing risk of confidential information, including personal data controlled or processed by the Commission, being misused, lost, stolen or corrupted. Alongside the practices to control cyber security risk, we have focused efforts on relevant and tailored training and education to staff, ensuring that they are aware of their obligations and responsibilities for information security.

This year, we have continued to roll out the specific training as well as focus efforts on awareness campaigns specific to trends of incidents or near-miss incidents reported. We continue to encourage an open and transparent culture where data breaches and incidents and concerns are readily recognised, reported and managed. We have also contributed significantly to identifying areas for the management and prevention of insider risk.

Independent assurance and scrutiny

As in previous years, the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) has delivered our annual assurance programme. Of the four audits completed as part of the 2024-25 assurance programme, three received an overall ‘moderate’ assurance rating. These audits covered key financial controls relating our purchase to Pay (P2P) process, communication with customers, and our project management office. One of the audits received an overall ‘Limited’ assurance rating, relating to our Commercial Services function. The GIAA also completed advisory reports into our workforce planning and preparedness for the incoming Procurement Act 2023.

The GIAA’s annual internal audit opinion provided moderate assurance on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the framework of governance, risk management and internal controls for the financial year 2024-25. There were no matters arising from the work of internal audit during the period that require separate comment. Internal audit found no fundamental or systemic control weaknesses by design or operation, fraud or improbity. It did find areas where controls have not yet been fully implemented or require improvement, for which appropriate actions to address the risks have been agreed.

Corporate complaints

The Charity Commission takes complaints against it seriously. Our complaints procedure is available on our website. Where applicable, we feed findings from complaints into our future casework to ensure we are learning from them.

If members of the public remain dissatisfied with the outcome of their complaint, they may pursue their complaint via a Member of Parliament to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman.

The PHSO does not investigate every complaint they receive. A primary investigation is conducted to determine if a detailed investigation is warranted. The PHSO will not usually complete a detailed investigation if there is no evidence of wrongdoing or the complaint can be resolved. In the period covering 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, the PHSO closed 10 cases at the primary investigation stage.

The below table sets out the latest published figures from the PHSO regarding the number of detailed investigations conducted by the PHSO about the Charity Commission. It covers the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

Number of complaints accepted for detailed investigation by the Parliamentary Ombudsman in 2023-24	2
Number of detailed investigations reported on in 2023-24:[footnote 8]
a) Investigations fully upheld	2
b) Investigations partly upheld	0
c) Investigations not upheld	0
Number of Ombudsman recommendations in 2023-24[footnote 9]:
d) Complied with	0
e) Not complied with	0

The following links to the PHSO report that this data is taken from: Annual data on complaints made to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, 2023 to 2024 ^{[footnote 10]}.

The findings of both investigations referenced above are available on the PHSO website.

Whistleblowing (raising a concern)

Our whistleblowing policy (also known as “Raising a Concern”) is available on our staff intranet site. We have a number of routes available for our people to raise concerns, including Nominated Officers, who are staff volunteers that act as confidential and independent source of support, and an independent helpline. We post regular reminders of the Raising a Concern policy to staff, and participated in this year’s Civil Service-wide “Speak up” campaign.

The Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee holds overall Board responsibility for whistleblowing, and this Committee receives reports on any whistleblowing as a standard agenda item.

Accounting officer’s statement of effectiveness

I have reviewed the effectiveness of the Commission’s governance structures, risk management and internal controls. Taking into account: the results from our internal audit programme and other external assurances; assurance letters from each of my directors summarising the effectiveness of their systems of governance, risk management and control; and the ongoing review of our governance arrangements, I have concluded that the Commission has satisfactory governance and risk management systems in place, with effective plans to ensure continuous improvement.

David Holdsworth, Chief Executive and Accounting Officer

26 June 2025

Remuneration and staff report

Remuneration Report

Service contracts

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires Civil Service appointments to be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The Recruitment Principles published by the Civil Service Commission specify the circumstances when appointments may be made otherwise. All appointments are overseen by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Unless otherwise stated below, the officials covered by this report hold appointments which are open-ended. Early termination, other than for misconduct, would result in the individual receiving compensation as set out in the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

All Board members are on fixed-term contracts from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Chief Executive and the directors are all directly employed by the Commission.

Find out further information about the work of the [Civil Service Commission]www.civilservicecommission.org.uk.

Remuneration Policy

The Chair and non-executive Board members

In accordance with Schedule 1, paragraph 4(1) of the Charities Act 2011, remuneration, and such other allowances, for Non-Executive Board Members, including the Chair, is determined by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Remuneration for Non-Executive Board Members is paid by the Commission.

SCS executive

Our senior staff pay policy is in line with the work and recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body. The Non-Executive Board Members agree the annual bonus arrangements for the Chief Executive, on the recommendation of the Remuneration and People Committee. The Chief Executive is the final decision-maker for the performance rating and bonus for the 6 members of the SCS executive, but the Board Remuneration and People Committee moderates and provides vital challenge based on their knowledge and experience.  

Charity Commission staff

The Charity Commission is responsible for employing staff and keeps the terms broadly in line with those that apply to the Civil Service through compliance with the annual Civil Service pay remit guidance. Our staff normally hold appointments which are open-ended. Early termination, other than for misconduct, would result in the individual receiving compensation as set out in the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. Levels of remuneration are set at an appropriate level to recruit, retain and motivate able, qualified and high-calibre people within the budget available to the Commission.

Remuneration (including salary) and pension entitlements

The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of Board members and the most senior executive officials of the Commission.

Remuneration (audited)

All non-executive Board members (excluding the Chair) serving in 2024-25 are entitled to a fee of £350 per day (unchanged from last year), so their overall fee/salary reflects days worked.

No pension contributions are paid for non-executives (2024-25: £nil).

2024-25

Board, Chair and Chief Executive	Fee/Salary	Bonus payment	Pension benefits[footnote 11]	Single total figure of remuneration
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Orlando Fraser KC (Chair)	60-65	N/A	N/A	60-65
Dame Helen Stephenson CBE (Chief Executive to 16/07/2024)	45-50 (145-150 full year equivalent)	5-10	11	60-65 (160-165 full year equivalent)
David Holdsworth (Chief Executive from 01/07/2024)	110-115 (145-150 full year equivalent)	5-10	48	160-165 (full year equivalent 200-205)
Pippa Britton OBE (Board Member)	0-5	N/A	N/A	0-5
Rory Brooks CBE (Board Member)	0-5	N/A	N/A	0-5
Shrenik Davda (Board Member)	0-5	N/A	N/A	0-5
Will Lifford (Board Member)	5-10	N/A	N/A	5-10
Ann Phillips (Board Member)	5-10	N/A	N/A	5-10
Joanne Prowse (Board Member to 01/12/2024)	0-5 (5-10 full year equivalent)	N/A	N/A	0-5 (5-10 full year equivalent)
Mark Simms OBE (Board Member)	0-5	N/A	N/A	0-5

2023-24

Board, Chair and Chief Executive	Fee/Salary	Bonus payment	Pension benefits[footnote 11]	Single total figure of remuneration
	£’000	£’000	£’000[footnote 12]	£’000
Orlando Fraser KC (Chair)	60-65	N/A	N/A	60-65
Dame Helen Stephenson CBE (Chief Executive to 16/07/2024)	145-150	5-10	43	195-200
David Holdsworth (Chief Executive from 01/07/2024)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pippa Britton OBE (Board Member)	5-10	N/A	N/A	5-10
Rory Brooks CBE (Board Member)	0-5	N/A	N/A	0-5
Shrenik Davda (Board Member)	0-5	N/A	N/A	0-5
Will Lifford (Board Member)	5-10	N/A	N/A	5-10
Ann Phillips (Board Member)	5-10	N/A	N/A	5-10
Joanne Prowse (Board Member to 01/12/2024)	5-10	N/A	N/A	5-10
Mark Simms OBE (Board Member)	5-10	N/A	N/A	5-10

2024-25

Directors and Chief Operating Officer	Fee/Salary	Bonus payment	Pension benefits[footnote 13]	Single total figure of remuneration
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Nick Baker (Chief Operating Officer)	125-130	5-10	47	175-180
Roberto Confessore (Director of Digital, Data and Technology)	100-105	0-5	22	125-130
Helen Earner (Director of Regulatory Services)	100-105	0-5	58	155-160
Paul Latham (Director of Communications and Policy)	110-115	5-10	70	185-190
Aarti Thakor (Director of Legal and Accountancy Services to 10/05/2024)	10-15 (100-105 full year equivalent)	0-5	7	15-20 (105-110 full year equivalent)
Jane McGarry (Interim Director of Legal and Accountancy Services from 01/12/2024)	25-30 (80-85 full year equivalent)	N/A	36	60-65 (115-120 full year equivalent)

2023-24

Directors and Chief Operating Officer	Fee/Salary	Bonus payment	Pension benefits[footnote 13]	Single total figure of remuneration
	£’000	£’000	£’000[footnote 14]	£’000
Nick Baker (Chief Operating Officer)	125-130	5-10	47	175-180
Roberto Confessore (Director of Digital, Data and Technology)	95-100	0-5	55	155-160
Helen Earner (Director of Regulatory Services)	95-100	0-5	31	125-130
Paul Latham (Director of Communications and Policy)	105-110	0-5	61	165-170
Aarti Thakor (Director of Legal and Accountancy Services to 10/05/2024)	100-105	0-5	38	140-145
Jane McGarry (Interim Director of Legal and Accountancy Services from 01/12/2024)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Salary

‘Salary’ includes gross salary; overtime; reserved rights to London weighting or London allowances; recruitment and retention allowances; private office allowances and any other allowance to the extent that it is subject to UK taxation. This report is based on accrued payments made by the Department and thus recorded in these accounts.

Benefits In kind

No benefits in kind were paid in 2024-25.

Bonuses

Bonuses are based on performance levels attained and are made as part of the appraisal process. Bonuses relate to the performance in the year in which they become payable to the individual. The bonuses reported in 2024-25 relate to performance in 2023-24 and the comparative bonuses reported for 2023-24 relate to the performance in 2022-2023. The exception to this is the bonuses paid to David Holdsworth, Roberto Confessore, and £0-£5,000 of the bonus paid to Paul Latham, which all relate to performance in 2024-25 and were paid in the same year.

Reimbursement of expenses

Expenses claimed by Board Members are in respect of actual receipted expenditure for travel, subsistence and accommodation in 2024-25. For the Chair, Chief Executive, Directors and other Commission staff, expenses claimed are in respect of costs expended for business travel and accommodation and subsistence allowance, in accordance with Civil Service guidelines. The Commission publishes on its website details of expenses claimed by the Chair, Board Members and the Chief Executive.

Pension benefits (audited)

	Accrued pension at pension age at 31 March 2025 and related lump sum	Real increase in pension and related lump sum at pension age	CETV at 31 March 2025	CETV at 31March 2024[footnote 15]	Real increase in CETV
	(£’000)	(£’000)	(£’000)	(£’000)	(£’000)
Dame Helen Stephenson CBE (Chief Executive to 16/07/2024)	55-60 plus a lump sum of 140-145	0-2.5 plus a lump sum of 0	1,281	1,258	8
David Holdsworth (Chief Executive from 01/07/2024)	35-40 plus a lump sum of 80-85	2.5-5 plus a lump sum of 0-2.5	674	617	30
Nick Baker (Chief Operating Officer)	10-15	2.5-5	228	170	35
Roberto Confessore	15-20	0-2.5	222	186	13
Helen Earner	30-35 plus a lump sum of 75-80	2.5-5 plus a lump sum of 0-2.5	667	594	43
Paul Latham	40-45	2.5-5	781	692	55
Aarti Thakor (to 10/05/2024)	30-35	0-2.5	452	421	4
Jane McGarry (from 01/12/2024)	25-30	0-2.5	442	409	31

CETV figures are calculated using the guidance on discount rates for calculating unfunded public service pension contribution rates that was extant at 31 March 2025.

Civil Service Pensions

Pension benefits are provided through the Civil Service pension arrangements. Before 1 April 2015, the only scheme was the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS), which is divided into a few different sections – classic, premium, and classic plus provide benefits on final salary basis, whilst nuvos provides benefits on a career average basis. From 1 April 2015 a new pension scheme for civil servants was introduced – the Civil Servants and Others Pension Scheme or alpha, which provides benefits on a career average basis. All newly appointed civil servants, and the majority of those already in service, joined the new scheme.

The PCSPS and alpha are unfunded statutory schemes. Employees and employers make contributions (employee contributions range between 4.6% and 8.05%, depending on salary). The balance of the cost of benefits in payment is met by monies voted by Parliament each year. Pensions in payment are increased annually in line with the Pensions Increase legislation. Instead of the defined benefit arrangements, employees may opt for a defined contribution pension with an employer contribution, the partnership pension account.

In alpha, pension builds up at a rate of 2.32% of pensionable earnings each year, and the total amount accrued is adjusted annually in line with a rate set by HM Treasury. Members may opt to give up (commute) pension for a lump sum up to the limits set by the Finance Act 2004. All members who switched to alpha from the PCSPS had their PCSPS benefits ‘banked’, with those with earlier benefits in one of the final salary sections of the PCSPS having those benefits based on their final salary when they leave alpha.

The accrued pensions shown in this report are the pension the member is entitled to receive when they reach normal pension age, or immediately on ceasing to be an active member of the scheme if they are already at or over normal pension age. Normal pension age is 60 for members of classic, premium, and classic plus, 65 for members of nuvos, and the higher of 65 or State Pension Age for members of alpha. The pension figures in this report show pension earned in PCSPS or alpha – as appropriate. Where a member has benefits in both the PCSPS and alpha, the figures show the combined value of their benefits in the two schemes but note that the constituent parts of that pension may be payable from different ages.

When the Government introduced new public service pension schemes in 2015, there were transitional arrangements which treated existing scheme members differently based on their age. Older members of the PCSPS remained in that scheme, rather than moving to alpha. In 2018, the Court of Appeal found that the transitional arrangements in the public service pension schemes unlawfully discriminated against younger members (the “McCloud judgement”).

As a result, steps are being taken to remedy those 2015 reforms, making the pension scheme provisions fair to all members. The Public Service Pensions Remedy^{[footnote 16]} is made up of two parts. The first part closed the PCSPS on 31 March 2022, with all active members becoming members of alpha from 1 April 2022. The second part removes the age discrimination for the remedy period, between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, by moving the membership of eligible members during this period back into the PCSPS on 1 October 2023.

The accrued pension benefits, Cash Equivalent Transfer Value and single total figure of remuneration reported for any individual affected by the Public Service Pensions Remedy have been calculated based on their inclusion in the PCSPS for the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022, following the McCloud judgment. The Public Service Pensions Remedy applies to individuals that were members, or eligible to be members, of a public service pension scheme on 31 March 2012 and were members of a public service pension scheme between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022. The basis for the calculation reflects the legal position that impacted members have been rolled back into the PCSPS for the remedy period and that this will apply unless the member actively exercises their entitlement on retirement to decide instead to receive benefits calculated under the terms of the alpha scheme for the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022.

The partnership pension account is an occupational defined contribution pension arrangement which is part of the Legal & General Mastertrust. The employer makes a basic contribution of between 8% and 14.75% (depending on the age of the member). The employee does not have to contribute but, where they do make contributions, the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionable salary (in addition to the employer’s basic contribution). Employers also contribute a further 0.5% of pensionable salary to cover the cost of centrally provided risk benefit cover (death in service and ill health retirement).

Find further details about the Civil Service pension arrangements.

Cash Equivalent Transfer Values

A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessed capitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by a member at a particular point in time. The benefits valued are the member’s accrued benefits and any contingent spouse’s pension payable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pension scheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in another pension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a scheme and chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme. The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individual has accrued as a consequence of their total membership of the pension scheme, not just their service in a senior capacity to which disclosure applies.

The figures include the value of any pension benefit in another scheme or arrangement which the member has transferred to the Civil Service pension arrangements. They also include any additional pension benefit accrued to the member as a result of their buying additional pension benefits at their own cost.

CETVs are worked out in accordance with The Occupational Pension Schemes (Transfer Values) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 and do not take account of any actual or potential reduction to benefits resulting from Lifetime Allowance Tax which may be due when pension benefits are taken.

Real increase in CETV

This reflects the increase in CETV that is funded by the employer. It does not include the increase in accrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee (including the value of any benefits transferred from another pension scheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factors for the start and end of the period.

Fair Pay Disclosure (audited)

Reporting bodies are required to disclose the relationship between the remuneration of the highest-paid director in their organisation and the median remuneration of the organisation’s workforce.

In 2024-25, Nil (2023-24: Nil) employees received remuneration in excess of the highest-paid director. Remuneration ranged from £26,632 to £150,000-£155,000 (2023-24: £22,757 to £150,000-£155,000).

Total remuneration includes salary, non-consolidated performance-related pay, and benefits-in-kind. It does not include severance payments, employer pension contributions and the cash equivalent transfer value of pensions.

Fair pay disclosures

Percentile ratio to highest earner

	2024-25	2023-24
75th percentile ratio	3.3:1	3.3:1
Median pay ratio	4.1:1	4.3:1
25th percentile ratio	4.7:1	5.0:1

		2024-25		2023-24
	Total pay and benefits	Salary component of pay and benefits	Total pay and benefits	Salary component of pay and benefits
75th percentile	47,251	45,524	46,131	43,457
Median pay	37,241	35,964	35,240	32,220
25th percentile	32,731	32,651	30,774	28,499

Increase / (decrease) in Salary and Allowances and Performance Pay and Bonus

		Highest Earner		Mean Earner
Year	Salary and Allowances	Performance Pay and Bonuses	Salary and Allowances	Performance Pay and Bonuses
2024-25	2%	(29%)	6%	18%

The highest earner salary has increased in line with the Senior Civil Service 2024-25 pay award. The ‘Performance Pay and Bonus’ has decreased by 29% due to lower bonus being paid in 2024-25. The mean earner salary has increased broadly in line with civil service pay awards and performance pay and bonuses increasing by 18% (£182).

The mean salary has increased due to recruitment at higher pay bands throughout 2024-25. This can also be seen via our ‘Workforce Shape’ disclosure within the Staff Report.

The 75th percentile ratio has remained the same as last year, and the Median and 25th percentile ratios have decreased slightly. All pay values have increased in line with the pay award and grading review in 2024-25.

Staff Report

Building an expert Commission

We have a stated ambition for our people, as set out in our Strategy 2024-25, to be the expert regulator. Our People and Culture Programme works to achieve this ambition by delivering initiatives that will attract, retain, engage and develop talented people.

The focus for the programme this year has been reviewing how we evaluate and reward performance. Having reviewed learnings from other Civil Service departments, we have modernised our approach, moving away from a system that focusses on past performance to one based on high quality conversations about skills and future development. This is combined with opportunities for line managers to recognise and reward excellence throughout the year against a new set of performance criteria. The new system better reflects our organisational values, delivers on our corporate strategy, and creates greater opportunities to both recognise and develop expertise, tackling poor performance robustly whilst encouraging and sustaining excellent performance. We have rolled out an extensive training programme for all line managers to train them in the new approach, which was implemented from April 2025.

Best practice in line management is the biggest enabler of staff achievement against targets. We have seen a 99% completion rate for our Line Manager Essentials (LME) training, which focusses on essential line management skills and processes. This year, we adopted the centralised Civil Service line management standards and updated our training to reflect this, to ensure that we are aligned with best practice. We have also seen a 99% overall compliance rate for our all-staff training, which includes modules on well-being, Civil Service expectations, health and safety, security and data protection, and Civil Service expectations.

We have continued to roll out our coaching- based leadership programme from the most senior down to all middle managers in the organisation. We encourage staff at all levels to see themselves as leaders, and participation in the programme has produced a common language for everyone to use in building effective relationships as well as breaking down some of the silos and barriers that exist in any business. In the year ahead, we plan to consolidate and embed learning with the current cohort, some of whom have become formal advocates for the programme and are running regular coaching sessions for groups of staff.

Staff changes over the year

		31 Mar 2023	31 Mar 2024	31 Mar 2025
Staff on payroll	Number in post	511	488	457
Contingent Labour (Agency & Contractors)	Number in post	1	1	9
Workforce shape*	Headcount at pay band 3 and below	28% (145)	28% (131)	26% (119)
	Headcount at pay band 4 and above, excluding SCS	71% (358)	71% (336)	72.5% (331)
	Senior civil servants	1% (6)	1% (7)	1.5% (7)
Workforce diversity**	All other ethnic groups combined[footnote 17]	9.2%	5%	6%
	Women	60%	61%	61%
	Women (SCS only)	50%	42%	28.5%
	Disabled	14%	6%	6%
Attendance	Average working days lost	6 days	8.5	6
Civil Service People Survey	Engagement Index %	65	65	64

*Our staff on payroll also includes 7 public appointments as at 31 March 2025. The Commission employed 7 Senior Civil Servants as at 31 March 2025 (6 at SCS pay grade 1 and 1 at SCS pay grade 2).

**The figures portray little change in the proportion of staff with disabilities and from all other ethnic groups combined from the previous year, but the significant drop in 2023 has not been reversed. That decrease was primarily due to the departure of staff with these protected characteristics. The figures are based on self-declarations on our HR database – in both instances there remains a significant number of “undeclared” or “prefer not to say” responses. One SCS female leaver has led to the drop in female representation at this level.

Following the implementation of our pay band realignment last year, we have seen a drop in attrition over the last 12 months. Turnover in the rolling 12 months has decreased to 11.6% from 15.2% at the end of last year.

The size of the workforce has decreased in headcount by 31 (6.4%). This drop was a budgetary necessity, augmented by careful decisions about vacancy filling but conversely with a lower number of leavers than usual (see risk management, above for more information on our approach to workforce planning).

Of our 56 leavers, 2 were dismissed, 7 came to the end of their Fixed Term Contracts, 27 transferred to other Government Departments, and a further 20 left the Civil Service.

Following the introduction of new absence policy and procedures we have seen a decrease in absence levels after last year’s peak. We continue to look at ways to bring people back to work and support them to work productively.

Type of appointment	31 March 2023	31 March 2024	31 March 2025
Permanent Employee	94% (479 headcount)	94% (458 headcount)	97% (450 headcount)
Fixed Term	6% (30 headcount)	6% (30 headcount)	1% (6 headcount)
Secondment In	0% (0 headcount)	0% (0 headcount)	0% (1 headcount)
Contingent Labour	0% (1 headcount)	0% (1 headcount)	2% (9 headcount)

Staff policies applied throughout the year

We have introduced a new and more robust approach to reviewing all people-related policies, ensuring they are up to date with both legislative changes and civil service best practice. 45 of our key policies were updated in the last 12 months with the most significant being:

• a simplified approach to managing sickness absence
• refreshing our policy around the declaration and management of outside interests at all levels of the organisation, to ensure it is aligned with updated Civil Service guidance published in November 2024
• updates to our policy on flexible working, including to the right to ask for flexible working and our approach to hybrid working

Diversity and inclusion

It is the diversity of the charity sector that drives our ambition to understand and reflect those different backgrounds, experiences, and world views at the Commission. We are a better organisation if we are a diverse organisation - in terms of age, background, health, culture, beliefs, and everything else which makes us unique. We believe this strengthens us as a regulator too.

In August 2024, the newly formed Inclusive Culture Group (ICG) met for the first time. The group’s members are volunteers from all grades and sections of the organisation. Its aim is to help us to create an inclusive working culture where everyone feels comfortable and able to bring their whole self to work. The network encompasses all previous diversity groups and there is a direct link to the People and Culture Group for oversight of the impact and direction of their work.

During its inception year, the ICG has canvassed our staff for ideas on how to make our culture more inclusive. The following initiatives have been prioritised:

• improving our communication systems and helping to promote a smarter culture when creating guidance, reports, and letters
• addressing some concerns associated with the workspace such as the creation of darker or quieter areas of the office
• creating and promoting an inclusivity checklist to facilitate an inclusive approach in all meetings

In terms of pay equality, our median and mean gender pay gaps are:

• median pay gap: 2.7% (in 2023 it was 0.4%)
• mean pay gap: 2.8% (in 2024 it was 0.9% in favour of females)

The gaps remain relatively small compared with the wider Civil Service and are largely attributable to proportionately having more women at lower grades and fewer at Senior Civil Service grades. A higher number of female leavers with male leavers remaining consistent also contributed.

The median pay gap associated with bonus payments has decreased from 8.4% to 7.2% and the mean has dropped from 6.7% to 3.7%. The main reason for the bonus disparity is related to the pro-rating of bonus payments to part-timers, which flows through into the calculation. We have four times more women part-timers than men.

Employee engagement

Our annual Employee Awards proved popular again with over 130 individual and 54 team nominations being proposed by staff at all levels in the organisation. The categories were based on our values of: Supportive; Innovation; Collaboration; and Delivering for our Customers. Over 30 of those individuals were in the running for being an “Unsung Hero” and 17 individuals and 15 teams were nominated for the Chair’s Award relating to “Expertise”.

Our engagement score, measured through the annual People Survey, remained the same as in 2023 at 65, 1 percentage point above the broader Civil Service average. Our response rate was 83%.

Highlights from this year’s survey included an appreciation for teamwork throughout the organisation, with an overall score of 86% against the questions relating to “my team”. Staff also recognised the work of line managers, with 86% of respondents stating that “my manager is open to my ideas” and 91% of respondents stating that they “have the skills they need to do their job effectively”.

An increasing number of people in the workplace identify as carers and it was satisfying to see the positive impact of our Carers’ Forum, which works with managers and staff to raise awareness of available support, reflected in the People Survey results. Overall, engagement in this area is 29% above the Civil Service benchmark.

To respond to the results, each Directorate will be responsible for analysing its own results, holding focus groups and creating an action plan designed to tackle key areas of local engagement.

Health and safety at work

The Commission recognises the requirements imposed by Health and Safety regulations and the duties imposed upon the employer. We are committed to providing a safe place of work and a safe means of access within all parts of the workplace. This also applies to our hybrid working arrangements, with staff working part of their week from home, and to staff whose roles involve offsite visits.

Our Health and Safety Committee is responsible for oversight of health and safety matters at the Commission. We are compliant with our legal duty to hold regular meetings with Departmental Trade Union safety representatives through this Committee.

Business Appointment Rules

In compliance with Business Appointment Rules (BARs), we are transparent in the advice given to individual applications for senior staff. We publish guidance on our staff intranet site, which provides links to the wider Civil Service guidance on GOV.UK. We inform all leavers to whom the BARs apply of the requirements.

The below sets out our data for 2024-25 relating to the application of the Business Appointment Rules.

Number of exits from the Senior Civil Service (SCS)	2
Number of BARs applications submitted to the department over the year (by grade - SCS2, SCS1, and delegated grades)	1 (SCS1)
Number of BARs applications approved by the department over the year (by grade - SCS2, SCS1, and delegated grades)	1 (SCS1)
Number of BARs applications where conditions were set by the department over the year (by grade - SCS2, SCS1, and delegated grades)	1 (SCS1)
Number of applications that were found to be unsuitable for the applicant to take up by the department over the year (by grade - SCS2, SCS1, and delegated grades)	0
Number of breaches of the rules in the preceding year	0

Employee relations

The Commission recognises two Civil Service Trade Unions, and the relationship operates under the Civil Service Employment Relations framework. Emerging issues or critical business decisions are discussed at monthly meetings between management and Trade Unions.

In our engagement we seek to ensure that staff views on key changes are discussed and taken into account, and that relations are positive and constructive.

Not all staff are members of the Trade Unions, and the role of our Internal Communications Team is to inform and engage all staff on such issues as well as news and updates about our work and business.

Trade Union Facility Time

Type of appointment	2024-25	2023-24
Organisation name	Charity Commission for England and Wales	Charity Commission for England and Wales
Headcount	50 to 1,500	50 to 1,500
Number of TU representatives	8	9
FTE Number of TU representatives	8	9
Number of TU representatives that spend 0% of working hours on facility time	0	0
Number of TU representatives that spend 1-50% of working hours on facility time	8	9
Number of TU representatives that spend 51-99% of working hours on facility time	0	0
Number of TU representatives that spend 100% of working hours on facility time	0	0
Organisation’s total pay bill	£26,634,447	£26,261,033
Total cost of facility time	£13,274	£14,186
Percentage of pay spent on facility time	0.05%	0.05%

Staff Costs (audited)

		2024-25			2023-24
	Permanently employed staff (£’000)	Temporarily employed staff (£’000)	Total (£’000)	Permanently employed staff (£’000)	Temporarily employed staff (£’000)	Total (£’000)
Wages and salaries	19,264	0	19,264	19,308	0	19,308
Social security costs	2,058	0	2,058	2,043	0	2,043
Other pension costs	5,313	0	5,313	4,785	0	4,785
Agency staff	0	769	769	0	573	573
Severance costs*	(58)	0	(58)	124	0	124
Total	26,577	769	27,346	26,260	573	26,833
Charged to Capital	(861)	(396)	(1,257)	(1,062)	(211)	(1,273)
Total Net Costs	25,716	373	26,089	25,198	362	25,560

*Negative severance costs relate to the reimbursement of an exit accounted for in 2023-24, which was transferred to an Ill Health Early Retirement exit.

Staff costs include an accrual for holiday pay in accordance with IAS19 Employee Benefits.

As a non-Ministerial Government Department, the Commission’s pay costs relate to staff. There are no Ministers or Advisors.

The Principal Civil Service Pensions Scheme (PCSPS) and the Civil Servant and Other Pension Scheme (CSOPS) – known as ‘alpha’ – are unfunded multi-employer defined benefit schemes in which the Charity Commission is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme actuary valued the scheme as at 31 March 2016. You can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation.

For 2024-25, employers’ contributions of £5.279 million were payable to the PCSPS (2023-24 £4.744 million) at a single employer contribution rate of 28.97% introduced as at 1st April 2024 (2023-24 26.6% to 30.3%) of pensionable earnings.

The Scheme Actuary reviews employer contributions usually every four years following a full scheme valuation. The contribution rates are set to meet costs of the benefits accruing during 2024-25 to be paid when the member retires and not the benefits paid during this period to existing pensioners.

Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £42k (2023-24 £41k) were paid to one or more of a panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employers’ contributions are age-related and range from 8% to 14.75% (2023-24 8% to 14.75%). Employers also match employee contributions up to 3% of pensionable earnings. In addition, employer contributions of £nil was payable to the PCSPS to cover the cost of the future provision of lump sum benefits on death in service or ill health retirement of these employees.

One staff member retired early on ill health grounds in 2024-25.

Contributions due to the partnership pension providers at 31 March 2025 were £8k. Contributions prepaid at that date were £nil.

Average number of persons employed (audited)

The average numbers of full-time equivalent persons (FTE), including senior management, employed during the year was as follows:

	Permanently employed staff	Temporarily employed staff	2024-25 Number	2023-24 Number
Charity Commission staff	435	4	439	467
Agency staff	0	6	6	4
Total	435	10	445	471

Reporting of Civil Service and other compensation schemes - exit packages (audited)

Unless otherwise stated, redundancy and other departure costs have been paid in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS), a statutory scheme made under the Superannuation Act 1972. Where the Commission has agreed early retirements, the additional costs are met by the Commission and not by the Civil Service pension scheme. Ill-health retirement costs are met by the pension scheme and are not included in the table.

The table below shows the total cost of exit packages agreed and accounted for in 2024-25:

Exit package cost band		Number of compulsory redundancies		Number of other departures agreed		Total number of exit packages
	2024-25	2023-24	2024-25	2023-24	2024-25	2023-24
£0 - £24,999	0	0	0	0	0	0
£25,000 - £49,999	0	0	0	0	0	0
£50,000 - £99,999	0	0	0	1	0	1
£100,000 - £150,000	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total number of exit packages	0	0	0	1	0	1
Total resource cost (£’000)	0	0	0	66	0	66

2023-24 figures have been restated as one exit was transferred to an Ill Health Early Retirement exit on appeal. The original exit payment has been repaid.

Off-payroll engagements

Highly paid off-payroll worker engagements as at 31 March 2025, earning £245 per day or greater
No. of existing engagements as of 31 March 2025	6
Of which…
No. that have existed for less than one year at time of reporting	5
No. that have existed for between one and two years at time of reporting	1
No. that have existed for between two and three years at time of reporting	0
No. that have existed for between three and four years at time of reporting	0
No. that have existed for four or more years at time of reporting	0

All highly paid off-payroll workers engaged at any point during the year ended 31 March 2025, earning £245 per day or greater
No. of temporary off-payroll workers engaged during the year ended 31 March 2025	6
Of which…
Not subject to off-payroll legislation	0
Subject to off-payroll legislation and determined as in-scope of IR35	6
Subject to off-payroll legislation and determined as out-of-scope of IR35	0
No. of engagements reassessed for compliance or assurance purposes during the year	0
Of which: no. of engagements that saw a change to IR35 status following review	0

For any off-payroll engagements of board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial responsibility, between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025
No. of off-payroll engagements of board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial responsibility, during the financial year. (1)	0
Total no. of individuals on payroll and off-payroll that have been deemed “board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial responsibility”, during the financial year. This figure should include both on payroll and off-payroll engagements. (2)	16

Expenditure on consultancy

The Commission spent £45,100 (2023-24 £154,240) on consultancy during the year to obtain support on IT strategy and to provide expertise in economic analysis. None of this expenditure was capitalised.

Parliamentary accountability and audit report

Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply (audited)

In addition to the primary statements prepared under IFRS, the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) requires the Commission to prepare a Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply (SoPS) and supporting notes.

The SoPS and related notes are subject to audit, as detailed in the Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House of Commons.

The SoPS is a key accountability statement that shows, in detail, how an entity has spent against their Supply Estimate. Supply is the monetary provision (for resource and capital purposes) and cash (drawn primarily from the Consolidated fund), that Parliament gives statutory authority for entities to utilise. The Estimate details supply and is voted on by Parliament at the start of the financial year.

Should an entity exceed the limits set by their Supply Estimate, called control limits, their accounts will receive a qualified opinion.

The format of the SoPS mirrors the Supply Estimates, published on GOV.UK, to enable comparability between what Parliament approves and the final Outturn.

The SoPS contain a summary table, detailing performance against the control limits that Parliament have voted on, cash spent (budgets are compiled on an accruals basis and so Outturn won’t exactly tie to cash spent) and administration.

The supporting notes detail the following: Outturn by Estimate line, providing a more detailed breakdown (note 1); a reconciliation of Outturn to net operating expenditure in the SOCNE, to tie the SoPS to the financial statements (note 2); a reconciliation of Outturn to net cash requirement (note 3); and, an analysis of income payable to the Consolidated Fund (note 4). In addition to the primary statements prepared under IFRS, the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) requires the Commission to prepare a Statement of Parliamentary Supply (SoPS) and supporting notes to show resource Outturn against the Supply Estimate presented to Parliament, in respect of each budgetary control limit. The SoPS and related notes are subject to audit.

Summary of resource and capital outturn 2024-25

	SoPS note	Estimate: Voted	Estimate: Non-voted	Estimate: Total	Estimate: Voted	Outturn: Non-voted	Outturn: Total	Outturn compared with Estimate: saving/(excess)	2023-24 Outturn: Total
		£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Departmental Expenditure Limit: Resource	1.1	32,149	0	32,149	32,044	0	32,044	105	32,180
Departmental Expenditure Limit: Capital	1.2	4,450	0	4,450	4,304	0	4,364	86	2,179
Annually Managed Expenditure: Resource	1.1	200	0	200	0	0	0	200	0
Annually Managed Expenditure: Capital		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Budget		36,799	0	36,799	36,408	0	36,408	391	34,359
Non-Budget: Resource	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total		36,799	0	36,799	36,408	0	36,408	391	34,359
Total Resource		32,349	0	32,349	32,044	0	32,044	305	32,180
Total Capital		4,450	0	4,450	4,364	0	4,364	86	2,179
Total		36,799	0	36,799	36,408	0	36,408	391	34,359

Net Cash Requirement 2024-25

				2024-25	2023-24
	SoPS note	Estimate	Outturn	Net outturn compared with Estimate: saving/(excess)	Total Outturn
		£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Net cash requirement	3	32,938	32,853	85	32,209

Administration costs 2024-25

	2024-25	2023-24
Estimate	Outturn	Total Outturn
£’000	£’000	£’000
32,149	32,044	32,180

Figures in the areas outlined in bold are control limits voted by Parliament. In addition, although not a separate voted limit, any breach of the administration budget will also result in an excess vote.

All Estimate and Outturn balances disclosed under the Departmental Expenditure Limit relate to administration costs. Administration expenditure reflects the costs of running the Commission. The classification of expenditure as administration follows the definition of administration costs set by HM Treasury. All Estimate and Outturn balances disclosed under Annually Managed Expenditure are classified as programme costs and relate to transactions in respect of Provisions.

Statement of outturn against Parliamentary Supply

SoPS 1. Net Outturn

SoPS 1.1 Analysis of net Resource Outturn by section

	2024-25 Outturn: Administration – Gross	2024-25 Outturn: Administration – Income	2024-25 Outturn: Administration – Net	2023-24 Outturn: Programme – Gross	2024-25 Outturn: Programme – income	2024-25 Outturn: Programme – Net	2024-25 Outturn: Total	2024-25 Estimate: Net total	2024-25 Estimate: Net total compared to Estimate	2023-24 Outturn: Total
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Spending in department expenditure limit
Voted: Giving the public confidence in the integrity of charities	34,365	(2,321)	32,044	0	0	0	32,044	32,149	105	32,180
Total	34,365	(2,321)	32,044	0	0	0	32,044	32,149	105	32,180
Annually managed expenditure
Voted: Giving the public confidence in the integrity of charities	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	200	200	0
Total	34,365	(2,321)	32,044	0	0	0	32,044	32,349	305	32,180

SoPS 1.2 Analysis of net Capital Outturn by section

	2024-25 Outturn: Gross	2024-25 Outturn: income	2024-25 Outturn: Net	2024-25 Estimate: Net	2024-25 Estimate: Net total compared to Estimate	2023-24 Outturn: Net
Spending in department expenditure limit	-	-	-	-	-	-
Voted: Giving the public confidence in the integrity of charities	4,364	0	4,364	4,450	86	2,179
Total	4,364	0	4,364	4,450	86	2,179

SoPS 2 Reconciliation of net Resource Outturn to net operating expenditure

	SoPS Note	2024-25 £’000	2023-24 £’000
Total Resource Outturn in Statement of Parliamentary supply	1.1	32,044	32,180
Net operating expenditure in Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure		32,044	32,180

As noted in the introduction to the SoPS above, Outturn and Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, which is similar to, but different from, IFRS. Therefore, this reconciliation bridges the Resource Outturn to net operating expenditure, linking the SoPS to the financial statements.

SoPS 3 Reconciliation of net Resource Outturn to net cash requirement

	SoPS Note	Estimate	Outturn	Net total Outturn compared with Estimate: Saving/ (Excess)
		£’000	£’000	£’000
Resource Outturn	1.1	32,349	32,044	305
Capital Outturn	1.2	4,450	4,364	86
Accruals to cash adjustments:
Accruals to remove non-cash items:
Depreciation/Amortisations		(3,594)	(1,813)	(1,781)
Interest Right of Use assets		0	(54)	54
Leased asset additions		0	0	0
Loss on disposal of fixed asset		0	0	0
New provisions		(200)	0	(200)
Auditors remuneration		(67)	(75)	8
Capital expenditure under IFRS 16		0	(2,460)	2,460
Adjustments to reflect movements in working balances:
Increase/(decrease) in trade and other receivables		0	354	(354)
(Increase)/decrease in trade and other payables		0	493	(493)
Net cash requirement		32,938	32,853	85

As noted in the introduction to the SoPS above, Outturn and the Estimates are compiled against the budgeting framework, not on a cash basis. Therefore, this reconciliation bridges the Resource and Capital Outturn to the net cash requirement.

SoPS 4 Amounts of income to the Consolidated Fund

		Outturn Total		Prior Year 2023-24
	Accruals £’000	Cash basis £’000	Accruals £’000	Cash basis £’000
Income outside the ambit Estimate	0	0	0	0
(Excess) cash surrenderable to the Consolidated fund	0	0	0	0
Total payable to the Consolidated fund	0	0	0	0

Regularity of expenditure (audited)

There are no disclosable losses and special payments for the year. There are no material remote contingent liabilities for the year.

Fees and charges disclosure requirements under Managing Public Money are met in Note 3 to the Accounts. The column headed ‘Other Government Funded projects’ relates wholly to services for which costs are fully recovered.

No gifts were made in 2024-25.

Government functional standards

As of March 2022, all central government departments and their Arms Length Bodies (ALBs) were required to have a plan in place to comply with each functional standard in a way that meets its business needs and priorities.

We continue to assess our position in relation to the standards and are satisfied that we are complying in a way that is proportionate and appropriate for an organisation of our size and scope. This assessment is subject to monitoring and review, including to identify actions that can be taken to improve any gaps in compliance.

David Holdsworth, Chief Executive and Accounting Officer

26 June 2025

THE CERTIFICATE AND REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Opinion on financial statements

I certify that I have audited the financial statements of the Charity Commission for England and Wales for the year ended 31 March 2025 under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

The financial statements comprise the Charity Commission for England and Wales’

• Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2025;
• Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure, Statement of Cash Flows and Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity for the year then ended; and
• the related notes including the significant accounting policies.

The financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the financial statements is applicable law and UK adopted international accounting standards.

In my opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ affairs as at 31 March 2025 and its net operating expenditure for the year then ended; and
• have been properly prepared in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 and HM Treasury directions issued thereunder.

Opinion on regularity

In my opinion, in all material respects:

• the Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Parliamentary control totals for the year ended 31 March 2025 and shows that those totals have not been exceeded; and
• the income and expenditure recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

Basis for opinions

I conducted my audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs UK), applicable law and Practice Note 10 Audit of Financial Statements and Regularity of Public Sector Bodies in the United Kingdom (2022). My responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of my certificate.

Those standards require me and my staff to comply with the Financial Reporting Council’s Revised Ethical Standard 2024. I am independent of the Charity Commission for England and Wales in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to my audit of the financial statements in the UK. My staff and I have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

I believe that the audit evidence I have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for my opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, I have concluded that the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work I have performed, I have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

My responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Accounting Officer with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this certificate.

The going concern basis of accounting for the Charity Commission for England and Wales is adopted in consideration of the requirements set out in HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual, which requires entities to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements where it is anticipated that the services which they provide will continue into the future.

Other information

The other information comprises information included in the Annual Report, but does not include the financial statements and my auditor’s certificate and report thereon. The Accounting Officer is responsible for the other information.

My opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in my certificate, I do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

My responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or my knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.

If I identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, I am required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work I have performed, I conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, I am required to report that fact.

I have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other audit matters

In my opinion the part of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

In my opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the parts of the Accountability Report subject to audit have been properly prepared in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000;
• the information given in the Performance and Accountability Reports for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements and is in accordance with the applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which I report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity Commission for England and Wales and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, I have not identified material misstatements in the Performance and Accountability Reports.

I have nothing to report in respect of the following matters which I report to you if, in my opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the Charity Commission for England and Wales or returns adequate for my audit have not been received from branches not visited by my staff; or
• I have not received all of the information and explanations I require for my audit; or
• the financial statements and the parts of the Accountability Report subject to audit are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
• certain disclosures of remuneration specified by HM Treasury’s Government Financial Reporting Manual have not been made or parts of the Remuneration and Staff Report to be audited is not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
• the Governance Statement does not reflect compliance with HM Treasury’s guidance.

Responsibilities of the Accounting Officer for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the Statement of Accounting Officer’s Responsibilities, the Accounting Officer is responsible for:

• maintaining proper accounting records;
• providing the C&AG with access to all information of which management is aware that is relevant to the preparation of the financial statements such as records, documentation and other matters;
• providing the C&AG with additional information and explanations needed for his audit;
• providing the C&AG with unrestricted access to persons within the Charity Commission for England and Wales from whom the auditor determines it necessary to obtain audit evidence;
• ensuring such internal controls are in place as deemed necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements to be free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error;
• preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view, in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000;
• preparing the annual report, which includes the Remuneration and Staff Report, in accordance with HM Treasury directions issued under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000; and
• assessing the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Accounting Officer anticipates that the services provided by the Charity Commission for England and Wales will not continue to be provided in the future.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

My responsibility is to audit, certify and report on the financial statements in accordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.

My objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue a certificate that includes my opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud

I design procedures in line with my responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud. The extent to which my procedures are capable of detecting non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud is detailed below.

Identifying and assessing potential risks related to non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of non-compliance with laws and regulations, including fraud, I:

• considered the nature of the sector, control environment and operational performance including the design of the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ accounting policies;
• inquired of management, the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ head of internal audit and those charged with governance, including obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation relating to the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ policies and procedures on: - identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations; - detecting and responding to the risks of fraud; and - the internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations including the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ controls relating to the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ compliance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, Managing Public Money and the Charities Act 2011.
• inquired of management, the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ head of internal audit and those charged with governance whether: - they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations; - they had knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud,
• discussed with the engagement team how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud.

As a result of these procedures, I considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the Charity Commission for England and Wales for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas: revenue recognition, posting of unusual journals, complex transactions, and bias in management estimates. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), I am required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.

I obtained an understanding of the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ framework of authority and other legal and regulatory frameworks in which the Charity Commission for England and Wales’ operates. I focused on those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. The key laws and regulations I considered in this context included Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, Managing Public Money, Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) Act 2024, employment law, pensions legislation, tax legislation and the Charities Act 2011.

Audit response to identified risk

To respond to the identified risks resulting from the above procedures:

• I reviewed the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described above as having direct effect on the financial statements;
• I enquired of management, the Audit and Risk Committee concerning actual and potential litigation and claims;
• I reviewed minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and the Board; and internal audit reports;
• I addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements on estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.

I communicated relevant identified laws and regulations and potential risks of fraud to all engagement team members and remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

A further description of my responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of my certificate.

Other auditor’s responsibilities

I am required to obtain appropriate evidence sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the Statement of Outturn against Parliamentary Supply properly presents the outturn against voted Parliamentary control totals and that those totals have not been exceeded. The voted Parliamentary control totals are Departmental Expenditure Limits (Resource and Capital), Annually Managed Expenditure (Resource and Capital), Non-Budget (Resource) and Net Cash Requirement.

I am required to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to give reasonable assurance that the expenditure and income recorded in the financial statements have been applied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactions recorded in the financial statements conform to the authorities which govern them.

I communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control I identify during my audit.

Report

I have no observations to make on these financial statements.

Gareth Davies - 2 July 2025

Comptroller and Auditor General
National Audit Office
157-197 Buckingham Palace Road
Victoria
London
SW1W 9SP

Resource accounts

Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure

For the year ended 31 March 2025

This account summarises the expenditure and income generated and consumed on an accruals basis.

The notes form part of the financial statements.

	Note	2024-25	2023-24
		£’000	£’000
Operating income	5	(2,321)	(1,487)
Total operating income		(2,321)	(1,487)
Staff costs	4	26,089	25,560
Other administration costs	4	8,276	8,107
Total operating expenditure		34,365	33,667
Net operating expenditure		32,044	32,180

Statement of financial position

As at 31 March 2025

The Statement of Financial Position is a summary of all the Commission’s assets and liabilities as at 31 March 2025.

The notes form part of the financial statements.

	Note	31  March 2025	31  March 2024
Non-current assets		£’000	£’000
Property, plant and equipment	6	521	399
Intangible assets	7	5,615	5,647
Right of use assets	8	2,828	1,763
Total non-current assets		8,964	7,809
Current assets:
Trade, other receivables and prepayments	10	905	551
Cash and cash equivalents	9	85	428
Total current assets		990	979
Total assets		9,954	8,788
Current liabilities:
Trade and other payables	11	(3,708)	(4,021)
Total current liabilities		(3,708)	(4,021)
Total assets less liabilities		6,246	4,767
Non-current liabilities:
Trade and other payables	11	(1,504)	(909)
Total non-current liabilities		(1,504)	(909)
Total assets less total liabilities		4,742	3,858
Taxpayers’ equity:
General fund		4,742	3,858
Total taxpayers’ equity		4,742	3,858

David Holdsworth, Chief Executive and Accounting Officer

####26 June 2025

Statement of cash flows

For the year ended 31 March 2025

The Statement of Cash Flows records the actual transfer of cash into and out of the Commission during the financial year.

The notes form part of the financial statements.

	Note	2024-25 £’000	2023-24 £’000
Cash flows from operating activities
Total net operating expenditure		(32,044)	(32,180)
Non-cash transactions	4	3,336	3,385
Lease interest	4	136	0
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables	10	(354)	976
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables	11	(518)	(766)
Net cash outflow from operating activities		(29,444)	(28,585)
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of plant, property and equipment	6	(349)	(72)
Purchase of intangible assets	7	(1,532)	(2,106)
Net cash outflow from investing activities		(1,881)	(2,178)
Cash flows from financing activities
From Consolidated Fund (Supply) – current year		32,510	32,562
Capital element of payments in respect of leases		(1,528)	(1,446)
Net financing		30,982	31,116
Net (decrease)/increase in cash in the period		(343)	353
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period		428	75
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period		85	428

Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity

For the year ended 31 March 2025

The Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity summarises the movement in the net worth of the Commission.

The notes form part of the financial statements.

	Note	£’000
Balance as at 1 April 2024		3,858
Non-cash charges – auditors’ remuneration	4	75
Net operating cost for the year		(32,044)
Total recognised income and expense for 2024-25		(31,969)
Net Parliamentary Funding – drawn down		32,510
Net Parliamentary Funding – deemed		428
Supply payable		(85)
Balance as at 31 March 2025		4,742

Changes in taxpayers’ equity for 2023-24                                                                                   

	Note	£’000
Balance as at 1 April 2023		3,756
Non-cash charges – auditors’ remuneration	4	73
Net operating cost for the year		(32,180)
Total recognised income and expense for 2023-24		(32,107)
Net Parliamentary Funding – drawn down		32,562
Net Parliamentary Funding – deemed		75
Supply payable		(428)
Balance as at 31 March 2024		3,858

Notes to the Departmental Resource Accounts

1. General information

The Charity Commission is an independent, non-ministerial government department, accountable to Parliament with our registered head office at: 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ.

Our responsibilities are to:

1. Increase public trust and confidence in charities.
2. Promote awareness and understanding of the operation of the public benefit requirement.
3. Promote compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations in exercising control and management of the administration of their charities.
4. Promote the effective use of charitable resources.
5. Enhance the accountability of charities to donors, beneficiaries and the general public.

2. Statement of accounting policies

These financial statements, which cover the accounting period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, have been prepared in accordance with the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) issued by HM Treasury. The accounting policies contained in the FReM apply International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adapted or interpreted for the public sector context. Where the FReM permits a choice of accounting policy, the accounting policy which is judged to be most appropriate to the particular circumstances of the Commission for the purpose of giving a true and fair view has been selected. The particular policies adopted by the Commission are described below.

In addition to the primary statements prepared under IFRS, the FReM also requires the Commission to prepare one additional primary statement. The Statement of Parliamentary Supply and supporting notes show Outturn against Estimate in terms of the net resource requirement and the net cash requirement.

In common with other government departments, the Commission’s liabilities are expected to be met by future grants of supply and the application of future income, both to be approved annually by Parliament. There is no reason to believe that future Parliamentary approval will not be forthcoming, and therefore, in accordance with FReM 8.2.2, it has been concluded as appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of preparation for these accounts.  There is reasonable expectation that the Accounting Officer has reasonable expectation that the department will continue in operational existence for at least 12 months from the date the Financial Statements are authorised for issue.

2.1 Accounting convention

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention modified to account for the revaluation of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets.

2.2 Property, plant and equipment

Expenditure on the acquisition, creation or enhancement of property, plant and equipment is capitalised on an accruals basis where that expenditure exceeds £1,000 and the benefit it yields has a life of more than one year. Expenditure on routine repairs and maintenance that does not add to the value of the asset is not capitalised. Grouped assets with a total value exceeding £1,000 and individual item value exceeding £500 are also capitalised.

Property, plant and equipment held for their service potential are stated at depreciated historical cost which is regarded as a suitable proxy for current value in use given their short lives and low value. Such expenditure includes any costs such as installation directly attributable to bringing them into working condition.

2.3 Intangible assets

Intangible assets are assets that do not have physical substance but are identified and controlled by the Commission and have a life of more than one year, such as software licences. Expenditure on intangible assets is initially recorded at cost. This includes directly attributable costs for bringing the intangible asset into use. New intangible assets will only be recognised where these costs exceed £30,000. Once the assets have been brought into use, they are amortised at a rate calculated to write them down to an estimated residual value on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful life. They are therefore stated at depreciated historical cost which is regarded as a suitable proxy for depreciated replacement cost as any indexation would not be material.

The Commission capitalises intangible assets in line with IAS 38. Projects are separated into two clearly identifiable stages (the discovery phase and the delivery phase). Costs are capitalised when the development phase is entered and there is a commitment and funding to see the project through to completion, bringing future benefit to the Commission.

2.4 Depreciation and Amortisation

Property, plant and equipment and intangible assets are depreciated/amortised at a rate calculated to write down their value to their estimated residual value on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful life. Depreciation on property, plant and equipment, and amortisation of intangible assets, is applied in the year of acquisition for purchased assets or, in the case of assets under construction, in the year which the asset is brought into use. Asset lives are estimated drawing on experience of similar assets in the past and our expectations of new asset usage. Asset lives are normally in the following ranges:

Information technology (equipment)	2-7 years
Information technology (laptops)	2 years
Furniture and fittings	5-7 years
Leasehold improvements	Term of lease or initial break point
IT databases (inc. management systems)	2-5 years

2.5 Right-of use assets

Where a lease has been identified, the Commission recognises the right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability. Right-of-use assets are depreciated on a straight-line basis over the associated lease term, or estimated useful life where this is shorter. Impairment losses are charged in the same way as those arising on property, plant and equipment.

As permitted by the FReM, right-of-use assets are subsequently measured using the cost model as a proxy for the measurement of the cost value in use. This is because lease terms require lease payments to be updated for the market conditions, for example, rent reviews for leased properties, which will be captured in the IFRS 16 provisions. Right-of-use assets also have shorter useful lives and values than their respective underlying assets and, as such, cost can be used as a proxy for assets with shorter economic lives or lower values in accordance with the FReM.

2.6 Impairments

The value of databases and assets under construction are reviewed at the end of each financial year for evidence of reduction in value. Where an impairment is identified that is attributable to the clear consumption of future economic benefit, the loss is charged to the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure.

2.7 Operating income

Operating income is income which relates directly to the operating activities of the Commission. Operating income is stated net of VAT. Income is recognised as it is earned. This income has been recognised as follows in line with IFRS 15 principles:

• contracts have been agreed and approved by both parties
• performance obligations have identified and agreed

• transaction prices have been agreed and revenue recognised on the following basis:

  fees for services which are charged as a fixed annual fee for the service provided in that year have been recognised in full for that financial year on the basis that when the year comes to an end the service has been fully provided

Fees charged to recover costs incurred where it has been agreed that these costs will be charged to other Government departments have been recognised in line with when those costs have been recognised by the Commission. Our main source of operating income relates to our work for which we receive funding from the Home Office. Income under this arrangement is claimed quarterly in arrears based on actual costs incurred.

2.8 Administration expenditure

Administration expenditure reflects the costs of running the Commission. The classification of expenditure as “administration” follows the definition of administration costs set by HM Treasury.

2.9 Foreign currency

As part of the Commission’s limited international work, work is undertaken in foreign countries and expenditure will be incurred in the local currency. These transactions are converted into £ sterling using the exchange rate at, or close to, the official exchange rate on the date of the transaction.

2.10 Pensions

Past and present employees are covered by the provisions of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme and alpha scheme, which are described in the Remuneration Report. The Commission recognises the expected cost of these elements on a systematic and rational basis over the period during which it benefits from employees’ services by payment to the schemes of amounts calculated on an accruing basis. Liability for payment of future benefits is a charge on the PCSPS and alpha, and is not, therefore, reflected in the Commission’s Statement of Financial Position. In respect of the defined contribution schemes, the Commission recognises the contributions payable for the year.

2.11 Leases

The Commission adopted IFRS 16 in 2022-23, as interpreted and adapted in the FReM, with effect from 1 April 2022. In accordance with the FReM, intra-UK government agreements, including Memorandum of Terms of Occupation MOTO) with the Government Property Agency, are treated as contracts and therefore within the scope of IFRS 16 where they convey the right to use an asset.

Where a lease has been identified, the Commission recognises a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability, except for short term leases and leases for which the underlying asset is of low value. For such leases, the lease payments are recognised as an expense on a straight line basis over the lease term.

The Commission has not set a specific threshold for identifying assets that are of low value, and applies the guidance in IFRS 16 on a case by case basis.

The Taunton office lease has been accounted for as a short term lease from 31 December 2024 due to the remaining term.

Where the interest rate implicit in a lease cannot be readily determined, the Commission calculates the lease liability using the HM Treasury discount rates promulgated in the Public Expenditure System paper as the incremental borrowing rate. For leases that commence or are remeasured in the 2025 calendar year, this rate is 4.81% (2024: 4.72%).

The Commission does not apply IFRS 16 to leases of intangible assets and recognises these in accordance with IAS 38 where appropriate.

2.12 Value Added Tax

Most of the activities of the Commission are outside the scope of VAT. In general, output tax does not apply and input tax on purchases is not recoverable. Irrecoverable VAT on revenue expenditure is charged to the Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure. VAT incurred on capital expenditure is included within the cost of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets. Where output VAT is charged or input VAT is recoverable, the amounts are stated net of VAT.

2.13 Contingent liabilities

In addition to contingent liabilities disclosed in accordance with IAS 37, the Commission discloses for Parliamentary reporting and accountability purposes certain statutory and non-statutory contingent liabilities where the likelihood of a transfer of economic benefit is remote, but which have been reported to Parliament in accordance with the requirements of Managing Public Money. Where the time value of money is material, contingent liabilities which are required to be disclosed under IAS 37 are stated at discounted amounts and the amount reported to Parliament noted separately. Contingent liabilities that are not required to be disclosed by IAS 37 are stated at the amounts reported to Parliament.

2.14 Significant estimates and judgements

The Commission is required, when applying its accounting policies, to make certain judgements, estimates and associated assumptions relating to assets, liabilities, income and expenditure. These judgements, estimates and associated assumptions are based on knowledge of current facts and circumstances, assumptions concerning past events and forecasts of future events and actions. Actual results may differ from the estimates stated for the provisions and the useful economic lives of the tangible and intangible assets.

2.15 Standards issued but not yet effective

IFRS 17: Insurance Contracts replaces IFRS 4: Insurance Contracts and is to be included in the FReM for mandatory implementation from 2025-26. It establishes the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of insurance contracts within the scope of this Standard.

IFRS 17 requires insurance contracts, including reinsurance contracts, to be recognised on the statement of financial position as the total of the fulfilment cashflows and the contractual service margin (CSM).

The financial impact of applying IFRS17 has not been calculated but is unlikely to be material.

Changes in Non-Investment Assets

In December 2023 HM Treasury released an exposure draft on potential changes to make to valuing and accounting for non-investment assets (e.g. PPE, intangible assets). The following changes to the valuation and accounting of non-investment assets is to be included in the 2025-26 FReM for mandatory implementation:  

References to assets being held for their ‘service potential’ and the terms ‘specialised/ non-specialised’ assets are being removed from the FReM. Non-investment assets are instead described as assets held for their ‘operational capacity’. This change has no impact on the valuation basis of non-investment assets, which remains Existing Use Value (EUV).

An adaptation to IAS 16 will be introduced to withdraw the requirement to revalue an asset where its fair value materially differs from its carrying value. Assets are now valued using the one of the following processes:

• a quinquennial revaluation supplemented by annual indexation
• a rolling programme of valuations over a 5-year cycle, with annual indexation applied to assets during the 4 intervening years
• for non-property assets only, appropriate indices

In rare circumstances where an index is not available, a quinquennial revaluation supplemented by a desktop revaluation in year 3.

The option to measure intangible assets using the revaluation model is withdrawn. The carrying values of intangible assets at 31 March 2025 will be considered the historical cost at 1 April 2025.

3. Statement of Operating Costs by Operating Segment

For internal reporting purposes, the Charity Commission operates two segments: Charity Commission core business and other Government funded projects. The other Government funded projects are reported separately as they have their own funding streams and are operated as distinct units within the Commission. The primary financial statements record the total income, expenditure, assets and liabilities of the Charity Commission and the other Government funded projects. The note below shows the amounts attributable to the two segments.

		2024-25			2023-24
		£’000			£’000
	Charity Commission: core business	Other government funded projects	Total	Charity Commission: core business	Other government funded projects	Total
Gross Expenditure	32,044	2,321	34,365	32,180	1,488	33,668
Income	0	(2,321)	(2,321)	0	(1,488)	(1,488)
Net Expenditure	32,044	0	32,044	32,180	0	32,180
Total Assets	9,954	0	9,954	8,788	0	8,788
Total Liabilities	5,212	0	5,212	4,930	0	4,930
Net Assets	4,742	0	4,742	3,858	0	3,858

4. Expenditure

	Note	2024-25 £’000	2023-24 £’000
Staff costs:
Wages and salaries		19,264	19,308
Social security costs		2,058	2,043
Other pension costs		5,313	4,785
Agency staff		769	573
Severance costs*		(58)	124
Total staff costs		27,346	26,833
Charged to Capital		(1,257)	(1,273)
Total net staff costs		26,089	25,560
Goods and services:
Property costs		52	(20)
Interest Right of Use assets		136	93
Travel, subsistence and staff related costs		860	1,017
Accommodation		9	21
Office services		82	62
Contracted services/consultancy		552	738
Information systems and telephony		2,753	2,722
Specialist services		447	89
Ex-Gratia		48	0
Total Goods and services		4,939	4,722
Non-cash items:
Depreciation	6 & 8	1,658	1,908
Amortisation	7	1,550	1,383
Interest Right of Use assets		54	21
Loss on disposal of fixed asset	6 & 7	0	0
Auditors’ remuneration		75	73
Total non-cash items		3,337	3,385
Total expenditure		34,365	33,667

*Negative severance costs relate the reimbursement of an exit accounted for in 2023/24 which was transferred to an Ill Health Early Retirement exit.

Further analysis on staff numbers, compensation scheme packages and pension disclosure can be found within the accountability report.

Auditors

This year’s resource accounts have been audited by the National Audit Office (NAO) on behalf of the Comptroller and Auditor General. No further services were provided by the NAO. The cost of audit work was £75,400 (2023-24: £72,700). This includes fees charged to the Commission for the audit of the Official Custodian of Charities’ Financial Statements.

5. Income

	2024-25 £’000	2023-24 £’000
Income received from other UK government departments:
Income received for Commission work funded by the Home Office	2,300	1,448
Income in respect of services rendered	21	39
Total income	2,321	1,487

6. Property, plant and equipment

	Information technology £’000	Furniture and fittings £’000	Leasehold improvements £’000	Total £’000
2024-25
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2024	1,782	2	835	2,619
Additions	363	0	23	386
Disposals	(372)	0	0	(372)
Impairments	0	0	0	0
At 31 March 2025	1,773	2	858	2,633
Depreciation
At 1 April 2024	1,494	2	725	2,221
Charged in year	232	0	31	263
Disposals	(372)	0	0	(372)
At 31 March 2025	1,354	2	756	2,112
Net Book Value at 31 March 2024	288	0	110	398
Net Book Value at 31 March 2025	419	0	102	521
2023-24
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2023	2,038	4	835	2,877
Additions	72	0	0	72
Disposals	(328)	(2)	0	(330)
Impairments	0	0	0	0
At 31 March 2024	1,782	2	835	2,619
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023	1,495	4	589	2,088
Charged in year	327	0	136	463
Disposals	(328)	(2)	0	(330)
At 31 March 2024	1,494	2	725	2,221
Net Book Value at 31 March 2023	543	0	246	789
Net Book Value at 31 March 2024	288	0	110	398

All assets are owned by the Commission.

7. Intangible assets

	Databases and management systems	Assets under construction	Total
	£’000	£’000	£’000
2024-25
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2024	18,945	0	18,945
Additions	0	1,518	1,518
Transfers	919	(919)	0
Disposals	(963)	0	(963)
At 31 March 2025	18,901	599	19,500
Amortisation
At 1 April 2024	13,298	0	13,298
Charged in year	1,550	0	1,550
Disposals	(963)	0	(963)
At 31 March 2025	13,885	0	13,885
Net Book Value at 31 March 2024	5,647	0	5,647
Net Book Value at 31 March 2025	5,016	599	5,615
2023-24
Cost or valuation
At 1 April 2023	15,093	1,773	16,866
Additions	0	2,106	2,106
Transfers	3,879	(3,879)	0
Disposals	(27)	0	(27)
At 31 March 2024	18,945	0	18,945
Amortisation
At 1 April 2023	11,942	0	11,942
Charged in year	1,383	0	1,383
Disposals	(27)	0	(27)
At 31 March 2024	13,298	0	13,298
Net Book Value at 31 March 2023	3,151	1,773	4,924
Net Book Value at 31 March 2024	5,647	0	5,647

There are no intangible assets held under leases (nil in 2023-24). Assets under construction represent expenditure on IT developments.

My Charity Commission Account (MCCA) is an intangible asset that is material to the financial statements. MCCA is a portal for trustees, charity contacts and relevant third parties (such as charity’s accountant or lawyer) access our online services. As at 31-03-25 the carrying value of MCCA was £2.2m with a remaining amortisation period of 40 months. Carrying values and amortisation periods are reviewed in line with our asset review processes.

8. Right-of-use assets 

2024-25	Buildings £’000
Cost or Valuation
At 1 April 2024	4,512
Additions	2,460
Revaluations	0
Leases ended in period	(173)
At 31 March 2025	6,799
Depreciation
At 1 April 2024	2,749
Charged in year	1,395
Leases ended in period	(173)
At 31 March 2025	3,971
Carrying amount at 31 March 2024	1,763
Carrying amount at 31 March 2025	2,828

2023-24	Buildings £’000
Cost or Valuation
At 1 April 2023	4,532
Additions	0
Revaluations	(20)
At 31 March 2024	4,512
Depreciation
At 1 April 2023	1,304
Charged in year	1,445
At 31 March 2025	2,749
Carrying amount at 31 March 2023	3,228
Carrying amount at 31 March 2024	1,763

In-year additions relate to an extension to the current lease on the Liverpool office (£2.188m), and a new lease for office space in Taunton (£0.272m) commencing on 1 December 2025. The current Taunton office lease will cease as at 1 December 2025.

9. Cash and cash equivalents

	2024-25 £’000	2023-24 £’000
Balance at 1 April	428	75
Net change in cash and cash equivalent balances	(343)	353
Balance at 31 March	85	428
The following balances at 31 March were held at:
Government Banking Services	85	428
Balance at 31 March	85	428

The Commission has no cash equivalent.

10. Trade, other receivables and prepayments

	2024-25 £’000	2023-24 £’000
Amounts falling due within one year:
VAT	203	53
Other receivables	7	14
Prepayments and accrued income	695	484
	905	551

11. Trade and other payables

	2024-25 £’000	2023-24 £’000
Amounts falling due within one year:
Taxation and social security	492	482
Trade payables	695	974
Staff exit costs	0	0
Lease Liabilities*	1,415	890
Accruals	1,022	1,247
Amounts issued from the Consolidated Fund for Supply but not spent at year end*	85	428
Total current payables	3,708	4,021
Amounts falling due after more than one year:
Lease Liabilities*	1,504	909
Total non-current payables	1,504	909
	5,213	4,930

*For the purposes of the Cash Flow Statement, movements in these figures are excluded.

11.1 Legal

The Commission had no material legal commitments or liabilities as at 31 March 2025 (nil as at 31 March 2024).

12. Contingent Liabilities

The Commission has 1 contingent liability for £40k relating to possible legal fees, judged to be probable or material as at 31 March 2025 (nil as at 31 March 2024).

13. Financial Instruments

The Commission’s resource requirements are met from Parliament through the Estimates process and minimal income from other Government Departments. The Commission has no powers to borrow money or to invest surplus funds. The only financial instruments held by the Commission are those that arise from the Commission’s day-to-day operational activities and include trade and other receivables (Note 10) and trade and other payables (Note 11). The carrying value of the financial instruments approximates to their fair value and the Commission is exposed to limited credit, liquidity or market risks.

Liquidity risk

The Commission’s net revenue resource requirements and capital expenditure are financed by resources voted annually by Parliament or through the reimbursement of costs charged to bodies funded by Parliament. The Commission is therefore not exposed to material liquidity risks.

Credit risk

The Commission recharges other Government Departments for the re-imbursement of costs relating to joint Departmental projects. These parties receive funding from Parliament and there has been no history of default on any amounts due to the Commission and management assesses its counter parties to not present a significant credit risk.

Market Risk

From time-to-time the Commission has some exposure to foreign currency markets because some purchases are denominated in US Dollars or Euro’s. Due to the minimal value of these transactions management assesses that there are no significant market risks.

14. Related party transactions

During the year 2024-25, no Board Member, key manager or other related parties undertook any material transactions with the Commission except remuneration (Board and senior staff salaries are disclosed within the accountability report). As an entity, the Commission had a small number of transactions with other government departments and other central government bodies. These transactions were with the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Office of National Statistics, the Government Internal Audit Agency, the Government Property Agency (an executive agency of the Cabinet Office) and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. All transactions were undertaken on arm’s length terms.

15. Events after the reporting period date

There have been no events after the Statement of Financial Position date requiring an adjustment to the financial statements.

The Annual Report and Accounts were authorised for issue on the same date that the Comptroller and Auditor General signed his Certificate.

Glossary (not audited)

Accruals

Income or expenditure relating to the financial year which had not been received or paid by the financial year end but is reflected in the financial statements.

Amortisation

The writing off of the value of an intangible asset over the useful life of that asset.

Annually managed expenditure (AME)

Expenditure incurred by the Commission that falls outside the scope of DEL control totals. In general, this relates to the creation of, and increase to, provisions.

Capital expenditure

Tangible Assets -Expenditure greater than £1,000 on the acquisition of plant, property and equipment assets is capitalised. Grouped assets with a total value exceeding £1,000 and individual item value exceeding £500 are also capitalised. All laptops are capitalised.

Intangible Assets – Expenditure greater that £30,000 on the acquisition or construction of intangible assets, or on enhancing the value of such assets is capitalised.

Consolidated fund

The Government’s ‘current account’ operated by HM Treasury and used to finance central government spending. The main source of income to the Fund is taxation receipts.

Contingent liability

A possible liability to make a future payment that is dependent on the outcome of certain events, for example, legal action.

Corporate governance

The systems and processes by which organisations are directed and controlled to ensure they meet their aims and fulfil statutory requirements.

Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL)

A control total specified for the Commission. Separate DELs are set for Resource and Capital. The Commission’s expenditure cannot exceed its DEL.

Depreciation

The measure of wearing out, consumption or other reduction in the useful economic life of property, plant and machinery.

Estimate/Supply Estimate

A summary of the resources and cash voted by Parliament to the Commission for the financial year, against which we monitor our expenditure.

Excess vote

Additional funding that is approved by Parliament where expenditure by a government department exceeds the Estimate for the financial year.

Finance lease

A lease that transfers substantially the risks and rewards of ownership of the asset to the lessee.

Financial instrument

A contract that gives rise to a financial asset for one party and a financial liability to another party.

Financial Reporting Manual (FreM)

The technical accounting guide to preparing the financial statements of Government Departments, written by HM Treasury.

General fund

This represents the historic costs of the total assets less the liabilities of the Commission. It is included in Taxpayers’ Equity in the Statement of Financial Position.

Impairment

The reduction in value of plant, property and equipment and intangible assets reflecting either the consumption of economic benefits, such as obsolescence, or physical damage, or a general fall in prices.

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

The financial reporting standards under which the Commission’s financial statements are prepared. IFRSs are set by the International Accounting Standards Board.

Managing public money

HM Treasury publication setting out the principles Government Departments should follow when dealing with resources.

Materiality

The extent to which a misstatement or omission in the financial statements might reasonably be expected to impact on the understanding of the reader.

National Audit Office (NAO)

The external auditors of the Commission.

Net book value

The amount at which non-current assets are included in the Statement of Financial Position after providing for amortisation, depreciation and revaluations.

Net cash requirement

The amount of cash to be released from the Consolidated Fund to fund the Commission’s expenditure for the financial year. The Net Cash Requirement will be different from the DEL as DEL takes into account ‘non-cash’ expenditure such as depreciation and notional charges for which there is no physical transfer of cash.

Net current replacement cost

The current cost of replacing or recreating an asset in its existing use.

Net resource out-turn

The net total of income and expenditure of the Commission during the financial year.

Non-cash transactions

Items of expenditure that are recognised in the Commission’s financial statements but do not give rise to the physical transfer of cash, for example, depreciation.

Operating lease

A lease where the risks and rewards of ownership of the asset rest substantially with the lessor.

Outturn

The actual level of expenditure and income for the financial year.

Prepayment

Payment in the current financial year for goods or services to be received or provided in the next financial year.

Provisions

Amounts set aside to fund known liabilities relating to the current or previous financial years, the exact timing and amount of which is uncertain.

Resource Expenditure

Expenditure on non-capital related activity, which is either subject to the Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL) or Annually Managed Expenditure (AME).

Supply

The resources voted to the Commission by Parliament.

Trade payables and receivables

Payables are amounts the Commission owes for goods and services received in the financial year for which payment has not been made by the year end. Receivables are amounts owing to the Commission for goods or services provided in the financial year for which payment has not been received by the year end.

1. The decrease is explained by the fact that in 2023-24 we supported a high number of individual charities with queries relating to onboarding onto My Charity Commission Account. ↩

2. Regulatory concern cases include compliance cases and intelligence assessments. It does not include inquiries, Serious Incident Reports and Matters of Material Significance. ↩

3. Regulatory action powers can be used in our regulatory concern caseload or in our Statutory Inquiries. ↩

4. A serious incident is an adverse event, whether actual or alleged, which results in or risks significant: harm to a charity’s beneficiaries, staff, volunteers or others who come into contact with a charity through its work; loss of a charity’s money or assets; damage to a charity’s property; or harm to a charity’s work or reputation. More information on how charities can identify and report serious incidents is available on our website. ↩

5. The 0.5 refers to an interim application to the high court. ↩

6. The decrease in performance is explained by the fact that in 2023-24 we received a higher number of low risk, quick resolution complaints due to My Charity Commission Account, that were faster to handle. ↩

7. The Chief Executive also attends, but is not a member of, all the Committees. ↩

8. May include complaints accepted for investigation from a previous year. ↩

9. The recommendations for the investigations reported on in 2023-24 are required to be completed in the following reporting year. ↩

10. https://www.ombudsman.org.uk/publications/annual-data-complaints-made-parliamentary-and-health-service-ombudsman-2023-2024 ↩

11. The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as (the real increase in pension multiplied by 20) plus (the real increase in any lump sum) less (the contributions made by the individual). The real increases exclude increases due to inflation or any increase or decreases due to a transfer of pension rights. ↩ ↩²

12. The pension benefits of any members affected by the public service pensions remedy were reported in the 2015 scheme for the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 in 2022-23 based on alpha membership for the period between 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 have been reported since 2023-24 based on PCSPS membership for the same period. ↩

13. The value of pension benefits accrued during the year is calculated as (the real increase in pension multiplied by 20) plus (the real increase in any lump sum) less (the contributions made by the individual). The real increases exclude increases due to inflation or any increase or decreases due to a transfer of pension rights. ↩ ↩²

14. The pension benefits of any members affected by the public service pensions remedy were reported in the 2015 scheme for the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 in 2022-23 based on alpha membership for the period between 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 have been reported since 2023-24 based on PCSPS membership for the same period. ↩

15. Cash Equivalent Transfer Value: Figure stated is the latest of 31 March or date of joining or leaving the Executive Team. ↩

16. The Public Service Pensions Remedy ↩

17. Defined as ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities)- “Writing about Ethnicity”GOV.UK ↩