The Charity Commission is soon to meet with sector leaders to discuss the potential for the regulator to raise at least some of its funding from charities themselves.

Commission chair William Shawcross said it is the norm for participants in other sectors to pay for their own regulator, but the Charity Commission remains publicly funded.

Asked about the potential for a new funding model at the regulator’s annual public meeting last night, Shawcross answered that the Charity Commission has thought about the possibility of a funding model less reliant on the public purse.

“We are talking to the charity sector about the possibility of raising some of our funds at least from charities themselves,” Shawcross said. “We are having a meeting quite shortly with a group of charity leaders to talk about the possibility of raising some of the funds from the sector”.

A spokesperson for the commission said the regulator is still at the stage of planning the meeting and cannot yet confirm the attendees or agenda.

The commission has not been immune to the funding pressures placed on public bodies in recent years, and attendees at the APM heard that the regulator has been making its case to government for a cessation to budget cuts.

According to the regulator’s latest annual report, funding for 2013/14 was £22.29m, down from £26.02m the year before and £29.33m at the beginning of the spending review period in 2010/11. Funding for 2014/15 is set to fall further to £21.14m.

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