Voluntary sector leaders criticise Autumn Budget’s lack of charity support
The Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey presented his first Autumn Budget to the House of Commons this week, laying out a range of measures that aim to mitigate cost-of-living pressures.
This includes increasing the threshold of Small Business Rate Relief to support retail, hospitality and leisure businesses – but organisations claiming charitable relief are not eligible for SBRR.
Voluntary sector leaders have raised concerns about the budget’s lack of financial support for charities, which they say will face further cost pressures as a result of the Chancellor’s 3.9 per cent increase to minimum wage rates.
Claire Stanley, director of policy and communications at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, said there was “no support extended to charities” in the budget, and called for a “step change” in how the government works with the sector.
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CAF puts about 10 per cent of staff at risk amid financial pressures
The Charities Aid Foundation, which is separate from CAF Bank, has opened a consultation with staff on restructure proposals due to financial pressures.
Sources close to the charity told Third Sector the proposals could affect about 60 roles, which is understood to include existing vacancies that will either not be filled or could be filled by those otherwise at risk.
The proposals could put about 45 staff at risk of redundancy, sources close to the charity have said.
The CAF’s latest accounts, for the year ending April 2026, show it employed 454 full-time and part-time staff, meaning the restructure could affect about 10 per cent of its workforce.
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MPs criticise regulator over legal action against fellow public body
The board of the Charity Commission has been told to take responsibility for the “staggering” decision to take legal action against the Public Service Ombudsman, formerly called the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
The House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee this week published its report into the row between the two public bodies, strongly criticising the Charity Commission’s actions.
The report condemned the regulator’s handling of two separate complaints about safeguarding failings at different charities, which gave rise to the original dispute between the two public bodies.
It also said the committee was “concerned by what we have seen of the culture within the Charity Commission”.
Dame Julia Unwin, chair of the Charity Commission, said its board had fully accepted the committee’s recommendations, adding: “We have long accepted errors in how we approached the two cases investigated by the Public Service Ombudsman and have apologised to both complainants.
“We have also apologised unreservedly to parliament for persisting with legal action in relation to the ombudsman’s reports.”
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