The Charity Commission has been unable to take further four in five of the 3,679 complaints made by the public over the last year about charities as concerns were either beyond the regulator’s remit or it was given insufficient information.

To help people better target the regulator with concerns it has updated its guidance to help people find “the most appropriate route for raising concerns, while being clear when it is unlikely to be able to act”.

This guidance makes clear the Commission is unable to prosecute, “although we may ask others to prosecute offences”.

It is also unable to tell trustees what decisions to make or overturn lawful decisions by charities' boards.

The Fundraising Regulator is also signposted, as it and not the Commission, is the lead regulator in fundraising.

Also, where safeguarding is the subject of a complaint the Commission points out that “we do not investigate individual allegations of abuse, decide whether any allegations are true or bring safeguarding prosecutions”. Instead, it focuses on trustees’ actions and whether the correct policies and procedures are in place. The Commission urges complainants to contact the police or their local authority social services.

Disagreements about contracts or employment issues as well as resolving disagreements among properly appointed trustees are also not part of its remit, as are issues that do “not post a serious risk to the charity, its assets or beneficiaries”.

The online ‘raising a concern’ form on gov.uk has also been updated to provide new signposting to alternative routes for whistleblowing and reporting serious incidents.

“While things can go wrong – either intentionally or unintentionally – the vast majority of the 170,000 charities on the register are doing great work to make a positive difference,” said Charity Commission head of intelligence and risk Kate Waring.

“Trustees overwhelmingly act in their charity’s best interests, and we step in when they do not.

“It is important people can tell us when things are not right at a charity, and our refreshed guidance explains the sorts of concerns they can, and should, confidently bring to our attention.

“Both the improved guidance and online form also remind people about concerns that are for other regulators, so they can raise those with the right organisation.

“We have to prioritise our work to help us make the best use of the resources we’ve been given as a public body and to ensure proportionate regulation of a volunteer led sector.”

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