Colin Lloyd
Colin Lloyd, chair of the board, says clarity in self-regulation is vital for the public and for the sector
The Fundraising Standards Board should be the single public-facing regulatory body and point of contact for complaints about fundraising, the three main bodies have agreed.
A joint statement from the Institute of Fundraising, the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association and the FRSB said the three organisations had yesterday held the first in a series of meetings to discuss how their roles should be clarified.
They were responding to recommendations made in Lord Hodgson’s review of the Charities Act 2006, which said there was a need to address the "confused self-regulatory landscape" of fundraising.
The statement from the three bodies said there was "unanimous agreement" that the FRSB should be the single public-facing regulatory body and point of contact for the public with regard to complaints relating to any kind of fundraising.
It said the IoF should be the standards setter and writer of rules and codes for all fundraising, against which the FRSB should adjudicate. The PFRA would continue to play a specialist role focused on distribution and enforcement of face-to-face fundraising, it said.
"The chief executives and chairs of the three organisations were united in their determination to work cooperatively to meet the challenges thrown down to the sector," the statement said.
Colin Lloyd, chair of the FRSB, said: "Clarity over how the self-regulatory scheme for fundraising works is vital for both the sector and public.
"When things go wrong, the public needs to have one clear point of contact for complaints, and we are delighted to now have complete agreement that the FRSB will perform this role.
"We will continue to work closely with the PFRA when handling concerns about face-to-face fundraising and to channel donor feedback to the IoF to ensure that it is reflected within future code development."
Peter Lewis, chief executive of the IoF, told Third Sector earlier this week that self-regulation needed to be simplified.
Both Lewis and Alistair McLean, chief executive of the FRSB, had welcomed news that the new chief executive of the PFRA, Sally de la Bedoyere, said she was considering passing the association’s complaints function to the standards board.
