Speaking at an all-party parliamentary group meeting at the House of Commons this week, Younger said that reducing the number of charities registered with the commission could help free up some of its resources, and implied that the income registration threshold of £5,000 could be increased.
The commission is considering how it can reconfigure its services in the face of a cut in its annual budget of 28 per cent over the next four years.
Under the Charities Act 2006, charities do not have to register with the regulator unless they have an income of at least £5,000 a year.
However, Younger said charities still had the right to register even if their annual income was below this threshold. "When [the act] is being reviewed, that is an issue worth looking at," he said.
Roger Gale, the Conservative MP for North Thanet, told the meeting there were far too many charities. "The amount of money that must be wasted in duplication is phenomenal," he said.
He said it would be good if the commission had the power to prevent new organisations from registering as charities where there were already other charities with similar objectives.
Dame Suzi Leather, chair of the Charity Commission, said that if Parliament wanted the commission to do that then it would need a different legal framework. She added it would also need to be given criteria by which it would be able to judge applications.
