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The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

Should OSCR charge charities for its services?

This poll is over 5 years old
 

​Scotland's charity regulatory is busier than ever according to its annual report. With Scottish government funding remaining static and operating costs increasing year-on-year, the regulator is seeking ways to bring in more cash. To this end OSCR says it would look into how it could charge charities for its services. It is as yet unknown whether this would mean charging charities to register or offering more paid-for services such as training - but would you be willing to pay OSCR to regulate?

Should OSCR charge for its services?

No
102
Yes
21
Options
Voting in this poll has now closed
 

Comments

0 0
Douglas Cameron
over 5 years ago
Many charities are members of other bodies who charge for registering or charge an annual subscription and OSCR should be no different if it requires to raise revenue to continue its work. My only concern is whether making a charge would lead to an increase in unregulated charities who could undermine the trust of the public in the charity sector through misappropriation of funds or other scandals.
0 0
Gary Wilson
over 5 years ago
The Scottish Government initiated this quango and should fund it appropriately
0 0
John McCrank
over 5 years ago
At a time when charities are being told by regulators and umbrella bodies that the public believe that organisations are spending to much of their income on wages, administration, fundraising and other areas that are not believed to be core by the public. That many smaller and mid size organisations are finding it harder to find funding their services. Is it possibly hypocritical for these regulatory and umbrella organisations to introduce new charges or to be increasing their charges to the sector with the chance that they will increase the negative view from the public of charities wasting money on admin.
0 0
Bradley Mcarthur
over 5 years ago
If people are already complaining about money being spent on things like core costs, I doubt they will take well to hearing charities, who struggle to raise money to cover core costs when funders usually just want to pay for new and shiny projects, have to pay another admin fee for being a charity. If they want to charge for some training sure, but just for being a charity and trying to make the world a better place, no.
0 0
Ian Jarvie
over 5 years ago
To my mind great store is set by having a Sottish Charity Number and potential funders/supporters know that everything is regulated and checked. Should OSCR begin to charge, thus reducing monies available for the charity's objects, some organisations raising funds for good causes may decide that there is no great advantage in continuing to be a registered charity so the fears of Douglas Cameron could be realised. OSCR needs not only to be 'free at the point of contact' but remain independent and not become beholden to the organisations it has been set up to regulate.
0 0
M Murray
over 5 years ago
OSCR is supposed to the Government regulator and as such should be financed by the Government
0 0
Amelia Sutherland
over 5 years ago
absolutely not. OSCR wastes a huge amount of money - I have seen this at first hand. They should look to make economies themselves rather than take money away from charities.
Commenting is now closed on this post