About the Charity Commission
The Charity Commission is a statutory body whose activities are governed by the provisions of the Charities Act 1993. The Commissioners are appointed to further the work of charities by giving advice and information and checking abuses.
In particular the Charity Commission:
- maintains a public Register of charities
- investigates misconduct and the abuse of charitable assets and takes or recommends remedial action
- gives advice to charity trustees to make the administration of their charity more effective
- makes Schemes and Orders to modernise the purposes and administrative machinery of charities and to give trustees additional power.
The Commission may charge fees for its services, but only in accordance with regulations approved by Parliament.
The aim of the Commission is to give the public confidence in the integrity of charity and its objectives are
- To ensure that charities are able to operate for their proper purposes within an effective legal, accounting and governance framework
- To improve the governance, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness of charities
- To identify and deal with abuse and poor practices.
The Chief Executive, Andrew Hind, is the senior executive responsible for the work of the Charity Commission. The chair of the Charity Commission is Dame Suzi Leather DBE. The Commission has offices in London, Liverpool, Taunton and Newport.
Complaints
The Commission publishes a leaflet Dissatisfied with Commission Standards of Service. If you have a complaint about the Charity Commission, in the first instance you should address it to the Customer Service Manager at the office concerned. The Customer Service Manager will investigate your complaint.
The Commission aims to provide a full reply within ten working days. If the Commission cannot respond within this time, you will be told what is causing the delay and when you can expect a full reply.
If the Customer Service Manager is unable to resolve matters to your satisfaction, then you can ask the Head of Customer Service to look into your complaint. You must do this within one month from the date of the letter from the Customer Service Manager.
If you are dissatisfied with the responses provided by both the Customer Service Manager and the Head of Customer Service, you can refer your complaint to the Independent Complaints Reviewer, Jodi Berg, who can investigate matters on your behalf.
Contact details
Further information can be obtained from the Charity Commission at:
Telephone: 0870 333 0123
Minicom: 0870 333 0125
London Office
Harmsworth House
13-15 Bouverie Street
London
EC4Y 8DP
Fax: 020 7674 2300
Liverpool Office
2nd Floor
20 Kings Parade
Queens Dock
Liverpool L3 4DQ
Fax: 0151 703 1555
Taunton Office
Woodfield House
Tangier
Taunton
Somerset TA1 4BL
Fax: 01823 345003