New guidance to assist charities under threat of attack

Jay Kennedy highlights the new Charity Commission guidance, urging trustees and leaders to report serious incidents and strengthen safeguards.

A toxic atmosphere of racism, xenophobia and far-right political activity in Britain is sadly translating into increased threats and attacks on charity staff, volunteers, trustees and beneficiaries. The scale of the problem has still not fully emerged into mainstream discussion and debate, though there has been some recent coverage.

Last autumn, over 150 charity Chief Executives wrote to the Prime Minister demanding action and protections for people’s human rights. NCVO also conducted focus groups with charities and has just released the findings, showing a widespread impact. Yet so far, our political leaders have failed to grasp this problem, and some are even making it worse with their rhetoric and actions.

Thankfully the charity regulator is aware of the issues and has been open to dialogue. Just before the end of the year, the Charity Commission issued some new guidance related to these problems – the result of regular conversations DSC and others have been having with them for several months.

We know that reporting incidents of racist or other hate attacks may be difficult for many organisations and individuals. Those affected may be not only dealing with crisis and trauma, but feeling uncertain about potentially raising their profile further by reporting.

However, it’s really important that regulators like the Charity Commission (and the police) have data and evidence about the scale of the problem, so that they can understand where to focus resources and help. This will also make it harder for politicians and policy-makers to downplay or ignore.

Our Charities Against Hate guide gives practical tips about what you can do, as well as links to other specialist advice and resources. In terms of what’s new from the Charity Commission, there are two things that charity leaders and trustees need to take note of.

First, there is a new short piece of guidance called ‘How charities can respond to the current hostile environment’. This explains key elements of risk management and safeguarding as regards the current situation, and key questions to consider, along with links to other relevant guidance.

Second, the Commission has added some relevant examples to its illustrative list of when to report serious incidents. Normally a charity needs to submit a serious incident report to the Commission if there is a major safeguarding failure or financial problem, for example. The list of examples has been amended to reflect the current threats facing many charities, and now includes the following as conditions on which a charity should report a serious incident:

“There are credible safety concerns due to threats made to trustees, staff, beneficiaries, or volunteers, and/or damage to its property linked to what the charity does or who it supports. As a result, any one or more of the following may apply:

the charity is unable to deliver key services to beneficiaries, including beneficiaries who may already be vulnerable
there is a serious risk of harm to trustees, staff, volunteers or beneficiaries
there is a serious risk of harm to charity property
the charity may be forced to close services permanently
the charity may be forced to consider closure”

We would urge trustees and charity leaders to consider this new guidance, especially if their charity or those associated with it have come under attack or are more likely to. DSC will continue to work with others in the sector and to make the case to government that more needs to be done.