Controversy over appointment procedure for new Charity Commission chair
Chris Hook
Experienced commercial lawyer specialising in the charity, education and sport sectors
7 November 2021
Following concerns about political interference in the procedure for appointing a new chair of the Charity Commission, the Good Law Project has announced that it will bring judicial review proceedings.
Better writers than I have opined on the apparent politicisation of the Charity Commission. ?See here, here or here, for example. But the issue has returned to the fore recently with allegations of political interference in the appointment of the Charity Commission's new chair.
In September the (then) Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden spoke out against what he saw as “a worrying trend in some charities that appear to have been hijacked by a vocal minority seeking to burnish their woke credentials.”?He?further announced that he had instructed those leading the search for the new Charity Commission chair to ensure that the appointee should "restore charities’ focus to their central purpose" and that candidates would be tested on how they would "harness the oversight powers of the Commission" for that purpose.
This announcement drew a swift response from more than 20 charities, who wrote to the (new) Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries requesting that she ensure the appointment procedure would not be politicised in this way.
Indeed, section 13(4) of the Charities Act 2011 provides that the Charity Commission shall not be subject to the control or direction of any Minister.
The charities’ concerns echo wider criticisms about political interference in public appointments.?Peter Riddell, who recently stepped down as Commissioner of Public Appointments, commented in September that politicians were briefing too much in advance about their preferred candidates, which had the effect of deterring others from applying; and that some appointment panels were “stacked” with people with ties close to the Conservative Party. In a speech last week Jonathan Evans, chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, argued that the Commissioner of Public Appointments "should be given greater powers to prevent the packing of assessment panels."
The Government has recently announced that a preferred candidate for the new Charity Commission chair has been chosen but has declined to name the preferred candidate. It also rejected accusations of political interference arguing that, in fact, the recruitment panel had not been given instructions of the kind described by Oliver Dowden.
So it is interesting to see that the Good Law Project has announced that it will bring judicial review proceedings challenging the integrity of the recruitment procedure.
Watch this space...
Chris Hook?is a senior associate at?Muckle LLP in Newcastle upon Tyne.?He provides specialist legal advice to charities, social enterprises and educational institutions on a wide range of charity, commercial and public law matters.?He can be contacted at [email protected] or 0191 211 7801.
Disclaimer: This article contains information which is necessarily general. It does not constitute legal advice. It is essential that, before proceeding with a particular course of action, you take specialist legal advice on any relevant considerations which may apply in your specific circumstances so that you can properly assess your options and any associated risks and benefits.
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