Richard Smith (a member of the Institute's advisory board) and Philip Whittington have been causing a great deal of interest in the charity world today with the publication of a new Centre for Policy Studies report, Charity: The spectre of over-regulation and state dependency. The Guardian reports that:

State funding for charities has outstripped donations from the general public, putting the independence of the voluntary sector at risk, according to a report from the Centre for Policy Studies.

While donations from the general public grew by just 7% in three years (up to 2004), government funding over the same period rose 38%. State funding now accounts for 38% of charities' total annual income of £26.3bn, compared with 27% from donations, says the report.

The authors of the report, Richard Smith, founder of the Martha Trust Hereford, and Philip Whittington, a member of the Tory party's social justice policy group, say that as the charitable sector becomes more dependent on the state there is "a danger that the vitality and voluntary nature of the sector could be irretrievably undermined".

The report also berates large charities for paying average top salaries of £83,000 to their most senior executives and criticises them for increased expenditure on fundraising and publicity. The quoted figures suggest it costs large charities nearly £2 to raise an extra £1, the report says. It also claims that some charities, including the National Trust, had such large pension shortfalls in 2004 - some of more than 25% - that they might have to cut money spent on beneficiaries to bail out their pensions funds. 

 While on the subject of the CPS, I see they've updated their website. Go and check it out by clicking here.