VIEW, Issue six, 2012 Profile 1, Describe the nature of your role.


My role involves setting up and running Northern Ireland’s first charity regulator. We are here to reg- ister and regulate all the charities in Northern Ire- land, so the public can continue to have confidence in, and lend support to, the vital work of charities. We exist to implement a brand new piece of legis- lation, The Charities Act (NI) 2008. Because we’re a small team, I get involved in a little bit of every- thing. Some days it’s big charity law issues, some days it’s recruitment, or it might be finance or media. I have to be a bit of a Jack of all trades.


2, What are the main challenges?


The main challenge is inventing a new organisation from the ground up. We have received a great deal of help and advice from other charity regulators and I have a great Board of Commissioners sup- porting and driving the work. But getting new pro- cedures established, working out how the law needs to work in practice and communicating with the many thousands of stakeholders we have are all considerable challenges.


3, Is it difficult to get your message out?


With an estimated 10,000 to15,000 charities in Northern Ireland, reaching out to all of them di- rectly will be difficult, if not impossible. They come in various sizes and guises and so we vary our communication activities to suit. For example, just this week we’ve started to


Website: viewdigital.org


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We talk to Frances McCandless, chief executive of the Charity Commission of Northern Ireland, about the challenges facing her organisation


use Twitter to try to reach out to as many people as possible. Because of our small size and the huge number of stakeholders, our website will be our main channel of communication. We urge people to keep a regular eye on it


for news and updates.


4, What investigatory powers does the Commission have?


The Charities Act (NI) 2008 provides the Commis- sion with a range of powers in relation to investi- gations. We will investigate serious issues including significant financial loss to a charity, serious harm to beneficiaries, issues around a charity’s independ- ence or charities deliberately being used for pri- vate advantage. The important thing for charities is that we will only use our investigatory powers if the concern about the charity is credible and evi- dence-based. Our approach will always be propor- tionate and we look to work with charities to resolve issues wherever possible. People can raise a concern with us through our website at any time.


5, What is your view of the overall charity sector in Northern Ireland at the moment?


Financial uncertainly is certainly a factor for chari- ties at the moment. As the regulator we see and understand this. However, I still see vibrancy and diversity amongst charities and civil society in Northern Ireland remains strong. We hope that the work of the Commission in increasing public trust and confidence in charities can assist them in meeting future challenges.


6, What qualities make a good regulator?


A good regulator informs and supports upstream so that the majority of serious problems can be avoided downstream. In charities, where the issues are often very personal and there’s public trust at stake, it’s painful and expensive to use the stick


later if you could have used the carrot earlier. Also, it’s important not to place unnecessary burdens on small organisations so you don’t strangle the work you’re trying to support. But probably most of all it’s about consistency – a regulator has to be even- handed and treat everyone fairly.


7, What is the most common complaints against charities?


The Commission reviewed common concerns about charities when we received our 100th con- cern about a charity back in January of this year. Four common features become apparent in the concerns received: poor governance in charities, poor financial controls, lack of transparency and damaging disputes. We produced a report based on these find-


ganisation. It’s very exciting to do things for the first time. I’m really enjoying establishing an organi- sational culture and setting the tone for the regula- tor as supportive and not heavy-handed. It’s an incredible privilege to be the first to do something as you create the mould.


10, What is the most difficult part of the job?


ings, the “100 lessons to be learned” report, which is published on our website (www.charitycommis- sionni.org.uk/). We will continue to produce the- matic reports in this way. The aim here is to help charities get issues


right from the outset, avoiding problems later on. This reiterates the idea of a good regulator sup- porting charities upstream.


8, How much face-to-face contact do you have with charities?


As much as I can manage. It helps to hear feedback direct from board members, staff and volunteers, and to be able to dispel misunderstandings or pro- vide reassurance. Once we're out of our start-up phase, which has involved a great deal of internal focus, I hope to be able to do this even more.


9, What is the best part of the job?


The best part of the job is creating a brand new team and being able to set the tone of a new or-


The most difficult part of the job is probably the flip side of the best part – doing things for the first time means there’s no pattern to follow. While we can learn a lot from charity regulators in other places, our legislation is specific to Northern Ire- land and we have to do what works for here. Start- ing from scratch to regulate maybe 10,000, maybe 12,000 or 15,000 charities is a huge task. Managing expectations will be our biggest challenge – we simply can’t register or regulate everyone overnight.


11, Who or what has the biggest inspira- tion in your career to date?


I’ve worked in the charity sector for over 20 years and the biggest inspiration has been to see what people are out doing every day of the year on the streets in communities across Northern Ireland, often in their own time, under-resourced, trying to make lives better. That’s what charities are for and that’s why a regulator that improves public trust and confidence in this vital work is so important.


12, How do you relax when you are away from the job?


My ideal way to relax is to head for Donegal at the weekends, have a walk (rain, hail, snow, sleet, bliz- zard or shine), cook a nice meal and have a glass of wine.


‘People can raise a concern with us through our website at any time’


Charity role: Frances McCandless


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