Committee publication · Estimate memoranda · 25 February 2025
Charity Commission Supplementary Estimate 2024-25 Memorandum
From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Inquiry: The work of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Summary
The Charity Commission requests a supplementary estimate of £32.149m in Resource DEL and £4.45m in Capital DEL for 2024–25, representing a 2% increase on the main estimate. The increase funds one-off pay costs and property lease renewals. The Commission reports record registration applications and continued demand across statutory functions, while delivering guidance updates and concluding high-profile investigations including the Captain Tom Foundation case.
Key findings
- Resource DEL increased by £0.63m (2%) from main estimate; Capital DEL decreased by £0.824m (16%) due to capital project timing
- Capital DEL includes £2.174m for property lease renewal under IFRS 16 accounting standards
- Commission supported 87,000 unique charities via 111,000 Contact Centre calls and concluded 3,710 regulatory concern cases
- Record number of registration applications received; 96% of applications assessed within 10 working days
- £9.1m dormant funds released in England and £3.3m in Wales for repurposing to community sector
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Charity Commission for England and Wales, HM Treasury, House of Commons Scrutiny Unit, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), Charity Commission Northern Ireland (CCNI), David Holdsworth (Chief Executive/Accounting Officer)
Notable line
“We will be the expert Commission - where our people are empowered and enabled to deliver excellence in regulation.”
Key Quotes
“The Commission is a non-ministerial Government Department, established by law to be the registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales.”
“In November 2024, we concluded our investigation into the Captain Tom Foundation, which found repeated instances of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the family of the late fundraiser.”
“… we have received a record number of registration applications. This is one example of the backdrop of continuously rising demand across all of our core statutory functions, against which we have been required to prioritise use of our tightly constrained resource.”
“Supporting over 87,000 unique charities, by answering over 111,000 calls to our Contact Centre.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗