The Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport wishes to appoint two new Board members to the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
DCMS is committed to eliminating discrimination and advancing equality of opportunity in its public appointments. We particularly encourage applicants from underrepresented groups, those based outside London and the South-East and applicants who have achieved success through non-traditional educational routes. This ensures that boards of public bodies benefit from a full range of diverse perspectives and are representative of the people they serve.
The Role
The Board provides leadership for the Commission’s business and sets the strategic direction of the organisation. It operates collectively, advising on strategic matters, as well as scrutinising and challenging Commission policy and performance, with a view to the long-term health and success of the organisation.
Charity Commission Board members:
ensure that the Commission effectively fulfils its statutory objectives, general functions and duties and appropriately exercises its legal powers
set the strategic direction of the Commission; set and agree overall policy and performance targets
promote the strategy, values and reputation of the Commission
approve the Commission’s budget and business plans, and set the risk framework and policies within which the Executive operate
monitor the Executive’s performance against agreed plans and targets
exercise their role through influence and advice, supporting as well as challenging the executive on performance and the effective management of the Commission
operate in accordance with governance best practice, including understanding and abiding by the Charity Commission Governance Framework
ensure they have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the Charity Commission’s business to carry out their duties
ensure they are familiar with any applicable guidance on the role of public sector non-executive directors and boards that may be issued from time to time by the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury or wider government
In doing so, Board member shall:
The Board is supported by three committees, whose chairs and members are largely Board members, working alongside members of the Executive.
The Commission’s Governance Framework is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charity-commission-governance-framework.
About the Charity Commission for England and Wales
The Charity Commission is the independent registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales. Its role is to register and regulate the charities in England and Wales, and to ensure that the public can support charities with confidence. It regulates over 168,000 registered charities and £88bn of charitable income. A non-Ministerial Department, it is based across four sites, Liverpool, London, Newport and Taunton employing approximately 480 staff and in 2023-24 had a budget of £35.3m.
As registrar, the Commission is responsible for maintaining an accurate and up-to-date register of charities. This includes deciding whether organisations are charitable and should be registered. It also removes charities that are not considered to be charitable, no longer exist, or do not operate.
As regulator, the Commission has both compliance and enablement functions. It is responsible for investigating and monitoring charities’ compliance with charity law and regulation; it takes enforcement action when there is malpractice or misconduct. It also provides online services and guidance to help charities run as effectively as possible, ensuring charities meet their legal requirements, and makes appropriate information about each registered charity widely available.
In February 2024, the Commission launched its
Strategy 2024-2029. This strategy sets out the ambition to be the expert Charity Commission that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive.
The strategy identifies five priorities that the Commission will seek to deliver against over the course of this strategy in order to achieve its ambition:
- We will be fair and proportionate in our work and clear about our role.
- We will support charities to get it right but take robust action where we see wrongdoing and harm.
- We will speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others.
- We will embrace technological innovation and strengthen how we use our data.
- We will be the expert Commission, where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation.
This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the
Commissioner’s website