Baroness Stowell officially appointed Charity Commission chair

Baroness Tina Stowell has officially been appointed as the new chair of the Charity Commission, despite a number of objections from MPs and charity bodies.

Stowell will take on the role for three years as of 26 February 2018, and will replace William Shawcross, who is stepping down from his position after six years in the role.




DCMS Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, said Stowell will make a “brilliant” chair of the Charity Commission, adding that she will work “tirelessly” to “protect and promote the great work that charities do and ensure they uphold the highest standards of integrity”.

“I would also like to thank William Shawcross for his hard work over the past six years,” he added.

Commenting on her appointment, Stowell said: “I am delighted to join the Charity Commission, and look forward to leading a strong board and a committed and expert staff through the challenges ahead.

“I will place the public interest at the heart of everything I do as chair to build the public’s trust in charities and the Commission as their regulator. To that end it is vital that we have a constructive, business-like relationship with all our stakeholders and I look forward to listening to a wide range of voices in the days and weeks ahead.”

Concerns

However, earlier this week, the Select Committee on Charities formally rejected Stowell's appointment, claiming they were left with “fundamental concerns” about her suitability for the role after asking more questions about her background.

The Committee’s main concerns were based on Stowells “lack of regulatory experience”. She has previously held a number of roles at the BBC, but MPs said they “could not identify a single role during her time at the BBC that included any significant regulatory work”.

“The internal organisational context of the BBC is not self-evidently relevant to the experience needed to lead a national regulator responsible for the oversight of 168,000 charities and nearly £75 billion of charitable funds,” the Committee said in a report published earlier this week.

“Her only exposure to the sector comes from her role as trustee, a role which she has held for no more than eight months. Highlighting this stark absence of relevant experience, Andrew Hind, former chief executive of the Charity Commission, told us that “her fit with the published person specification is poor”.”

Hancock’s approval

But despite the unanimous rejection from MPs, Hancock has continually backed her appointment, claiming she will be a “brilliant” chair of the Commission.

In a written letter, responding to chair of the Committee, Damian Collins, the minister said the recruitment process was conducted “in accordance” with the Governance Code for Public Appointments.

“As the appointing Minister, I have the final decision of who is appointed to the role,” he added.

“You may have seen that one of the advisory assessment panel’s independent members, Julia Unwin, has said publicly that the process was both rigorous and fair, that Baroness Stowell was an outstanding candidate on the day, and that the panel was unanimous in this assessment.

“Baroness Stowell has never claimed to possess significant experience of working in charities. This was not an essential criteria within the role description. She does, though, have significant executive and Government experience, including at the highest level.”

He added that she will bring “a wealth of relevant experience”, including regulatory experience, and will bring a fresh perspective to the role of Charity Commission chair. “That is very important, especially now,” he said.

“As you know, past political activity should be no bar to a public appointment. However, I do understand that her previous position as a Conservative Peer and Cabinet Minister has prompted questions about her ability to undertake the role independently and impartially.

“She has publicly committed to do so, acting only in the public interest. I have every confidence that she will. Of course she will be accountable to the Committee for this once she takes up the Chair post and I expect she would welcome the parliamentary scrutiny and accountability.

“Baroness Stowell was the best and right candidate for the role and I am sure will be an excellent Chair of the Charity Commission.”

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