Charities to go it alone after P&R fails to offer support

Association of Guernsey Charities vice-chairman Peter Rose said that ‘disappointment does not even begin to cover’ his feelings when he saw in this year’s Budget that Policy & Resources had decided not to alter the current Gift Aid system.

‘We’ve been pressing for government to bring in Gift Aid,’ he said, referring to the practice in the UK whereby the person making the donation declares that they are a local taxpayer and the charity can reclaim the basic rate of income tax paid on the gift.

This does exist here, but only covers donations of between £500 and £5,000.

Ideally, there would be no limit, said Mr Rose.

‘In 2017 there was a review of charitable giving,’ he said. ‘In last year’s Budget they said they were going to bring in a version of Gift Aid, but in this year’s they say they’re not going to do it.’

Policy & Resources had suggested that a proposed social investment commission could be given the role of administering a revised Gift Aid scheme.

But in the latest Budget report, it said it had decided to leave things as they are.

‘The Policy & Resources Committee has concluded that it would be preferable not to make any changes to the Gift Aid scheme at this time.

‘Changing Gift Aid would be an administrative burden for the commission with no clear benefits other than a marginal redistribution of funds across the sector.’

While feeling let down at this decision, Mr Rose said that Gift Aid is one part of the solution to the issues being faced.

‘I’ve previously called for a proper strategy from the government for the third sector,’ he said.

But since this does not appear to be on the horizon, the association is now going to press ahead with a strategy of its own, and this will be presented to its members in draft form at a meeting next month.

Mr Rose said that the problems being faced by charities have been highlighted in a report by CI investment management company Smith & Williamson.

This found that about one third of charities in the UK did not have more than six months’ worth of expenditure in reserve.

Mr Rose said that this applied in Guernsey, too, and the association had long been aware of the funding problems being faced by some local charities.

‘And it’s not just the smaller ones,’ he said. ‘There are some big charities, and in the past couple of years some of these big names have almost been forced to go under but been saved at the last minute.’

And the problem is not just with money, but with finding volunteers too.

Many people who volunteer are retired islanders, who in the not too distant future are likely to need volunteers to help them, he said – another area where the ageing population is going to have an impact.