We've written several times before about our worries about the charitable sector.
We don't like the way gift aid allows people to hypothecate their taxes. We aren't sure that the vast amount of money transferred from the taxpayer to the sector via the Treasury offers us much in the way of value. We worry that charities overspend on their own staff and underspend on their causes (charities are the last bastion of the defined-benefit pension, for example). We know that there are too many charities doing similar things, that they refuse to merge, and that this is hideously inefficient.
And finally, it bothers us that charities don't shut down when their aims have been achieved: instead they simply move their stated aims on and keep harvesting cash.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
All in all, we are pretty sure that the UK doesn't need 200,000-plus charities. And we are pretty sure that the taxpayer doesn't need to be supporting them to the tune of £16bn a year.
Anyone not convinced that it is worth worrying about all this should pick up a copy of today's Times. In it, we learn that there are more than 2,000 charities that have the stated aim of helping veterans in one way or another (that's one for every 1,500 or so, and a total worth of around £1.1bn) and that some 300 of those focus on the mental health of ex-soldiers.
We also learn that some of them are awful: they provide ineffective or bogus treatments (they don't have to prove that their treatments meet any specific standards), they "undermine NHS care" and they fail to engage with those in the worst condition (leaving them for the NHS).
But possibly even more irritating that all of that, we learn that the charities may have been sensationalising the extent of the ex-serviceperson mental health problem in order to get in donations. Scamming the government and scamming the public too.
The government has to call a halt to the way the charitable sector is, as one Times interview put it, allowed to "run amok" with public money without having to account for their behaviour in the same way as public bodies.
Either charities should be treated as the extensions of government they clearly are,financed directly (without all the confusion of gift aid and the like) and forced to merge, shut down, cut costs and actually be effective, or all public financing of the should stop.
The current system is both very silly and very expensive. It has to end.
-
Coventry Building Society bids £780m for Co-operative Bank - what could it mean for customers?Coventry Building Society has put in an offer of £780 million to buy Co-operative Bank. When will the potential deal happen and what could it mean for customers?
-
Review: Three magnificent Beachcomber resorts in MauritiusMoneyWeek Travel Ruth Emery explores the Indian Ocean island from Beachcomber resorts Shandrani, Trou aux Biches and Paradis
-
Beating inflation takes more luck than skill – but are we about to get lucky?Opinion The US Federal Reserve managed to beat inflation in the 1980s. But much of that was down to pure luck. Thankfully, says Merryn Somerset Webb, the Bank of England may be about to get lucky.
-
Rishi Sunak can’t fix all our problems – so why try?Opinion Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement is an attempt to plaster over problems the chancellor can’t fix. So should he even bother trying, asks Merryn Somerset Webb?
-
Young people are becoming a scarce resource – we should value them more highlyOpinion In the last two years adults have been bizarrely unkind to children and young people. That doesn’t bode well for the future, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
Ask for a pay rise – everyone else isOpinion As inflation bites and the labour market remains tight, many of the nation's employees are asking for a pay rise. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why you should do that too.
-
Why central banks should stick to controlling inflationOpinion The world’s central bankers are stepping out of their traditional roles and becoming much more political. That’s a mistake, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
How St Ives became St Tropez as the recovery drives prices sky highOpinion Merryn Somerset Webb finds herself at the epicentre of Britain’s V-shaped recovery as pent-up demand flows straight into Cornwall’s restaurants and beaches.
-
The real problem of Universal Basic Income (UBI)Merryn's Blog April employment numbers showed 75 per cent fewer people in the US returned to employment compared to expectations. Merryn Somerset-Webb explains how excessive government support is causing a shortage of labour.
-
Why an ageing population is not necessarily the disaster many people think it isOpinion We’ve got used to the idea that an ageing population is a bad thing. But that’s not necessarily true, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
