Workforce

NCVO today (Friday 11 October) announced the members of the Executive Pay Inquiry that will draw up guidelines for charity trustees when deciding on pay levels for senior executives.

The Inquiry will explore the arguments about what are appropriate levels of pay for charity senior executives, and how these levels should be arrived at. It will also explore the relationship between salary levels and public trust and confidence in the sector as a whole. The Inquiry will produce definitive guidelines for charity trustees, informed by a broad debate on the issues involved, to take into account when setting salaries.

Embargoed 0001 Tuesday 29 April

Charities have been told they should publish full details of the pay of their senior executives, in order to maintain public trust. The recommendation comes in the report today of an inquiry into executive pay set up by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Download the report (PDF, 1.5MB)

Commenting on the report of the Living Wage Commission Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO and member of the Living Wage Commission, said:

‘There is a clear moral, economic and business case for increasing the wages of the lowest paid.

Peter Kellner, chair of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), which represents charities, said:

International development charities take abuse issues very seriously and are constantly working to root out those who are looking to do wrong under the guise of helping some of the world’s most vulnerable. All the major charities have policies and procedures in place and dedicate significant effort to minimising the risk of abuse taking place. However, it is clear that more can and must be done, not only to revive the reputation of those charities in the news but also to maintain public confidence in the sector as a whole.

NCVO has welcomed new new government commitments on safeguarding in charities.

Charities are employing highly qualified staff but this may be at the cost of excluding people who face greater barriers to education and experience, new NCVO research suggests.

Commenting for today’s Times story, Martyn Lewis, chair of NCVO, said:

Britain’s best-loved charities are serious, professional organisations responsible for raising and prudently spending hundreds of millions a year on their good work. For an average household name charity, less than one per cent of its spending goes on senior staff pay, which is a sensible amount in order to ensure the charity is well-run and effective. Their executive salaries are typically much smaller than for comparable roles in other sectors.