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Welsh Universities Introduced to Regulation and Transparency
Welsh universities will be introduced to regulation of their charitable activities and finance; this will overrule the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 that prevented the taxpaying public from making any complaint concerning financial mismanagement.
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May 16, 2008 (FPRC) -- The Office of the Third Sector who is responsible for the implementation of the Charity Act 2006 has confirmed that the lack of accountability for the proper charitable purpose of university finance is coming to an end. They will be required to register with the Charity Commission in October 2008, which then makes them accountable to their regulator.
In a statement the Office of the Third Sector, Cabinet Office, 10 Downing Street said.
"Exempt charities have benefited from their ‘exempt’ status since the Charities Act 1960, which first introduced the requirement for charities to register with the Charity Commission. The Charities Act 2006, once implemented, will introduce greater transparency and accountability for exempt charities, by ensuring that they are properly regulated in respect of their charity law obligations (either by a principal regulator or through registration with the Commission)."
The Charity Commissioners have already stated they will regulate Welsh universities unlike English universities who will be regulated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), which has recently demonstrated a zero tolerance towards any wrongdoing at English universities.
The Auditor General for Wales has confirmed that the Welsh Assembly Government under the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 has ensured the taxpaying public has no right to make any complaint concerning university financial mismanagement.
However, the Charity Commission will override the Welsh Assembly, to quote the Office of the Third Sector
“The Commission is a non-Ministerial Department, which means that it is an independent regulator. The Commission is a non-Ministerial Department, which means that it is an independent regulator. Ministers and officials from the Office for the Third Sector have no locus or influence in the Commission’s decisions or actions. ”
The regulator has the power to take away the charitable status of offending Universities, which would close them down.
Send an email to Trevor Mayes of The Lamp Post
+44 (0)1545 561478
Keywords:
University of Wales, hefcw, charity commission |
