Concern as PM promises ‘much stronger’ powers to close charities promoting extremism
The government will give the Charity Commission “much stronger” powers to close charities that promote extremism, the Prime Minister has pledged.
Starmer said he wanted to introduce “much stronger powers for the Charity Commission to shut down charities that promote extremism”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport later told Third Sector that the government planned to strengthen the Charity Commission’s powers around banning people from senior roles at charities.
The spokesperson said changes would be made after a consultation that would be launched “in the near future”.
They said: “We will also look more widely at strengthening the Charity Commission’s powers, to ensure it has the powers it needs to tackle abuse of charitable status.”
Speaking after the Prime Minister’s comments, Kate Lee, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, warned that the proposals would raise “real concerns” among some charities.
“Proposals to expand the regulator’s closure powers will raise real concerns across the sector, particularly for charities supporting minoritised communities, who may fear being put at risk if current or future political actors take issue with their mission,” she said.
For the full story, click here.
UK voluntary sector’s highest-paid person revealed
The former chief investment officer at the grantmaking giant Wellcome has again emerged as the highest-paid person in the UK voluntary sector, research by Third Sector has found.
The Charity Pay Study 2026, which ranks the top 100 charities according to how much they paid their highest earner as per their most recent accounts, shows Nick Moakes received a salary package worth almost £4.5m in the year to the end of September 2025.
The study only includes the highest-paid person from each charity but if this was not the case, Wellcome would occupy the top seven spots because of salaries worth more than £1.6m paid to people in its investment team in 2024/25.
The charity employs its own in-house team of investment experts to manage its £40bn portfolio, which Wellcome says is more cost-effective than paying external companies.
For the full story, click here.
Christian charity failed vulnerable donor who made large gift, regulator finds
An investigation by the Fundraising Regulator into a complaint about the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God found three breaches of the Code of Fundraising Practice.
It concluded the charity did not have policies, procedures or training in place to help its staff identify and support donors in vulnerable circumstances.
It comes just three months after the regulator found the charity committed two breaches of the Code of Fundraising Practice, including by failing to meet data protection requirements, after investigating a complaint about the UCKG’s direct marketing.
The charity said it was committed to meeting the highest standards of fundraising practice and it would implement the regulator’s recommendations in full.
For the full story, click here.