The UK’s Independent Expert Group on Expenses has recommended that charities should not be required to publish the expenses of their staff or individual trustees.  The group says that there is no significant evidence of expenses abuse in the sector and as such, charities should not be required by law to publish their trustees’ and managers’ expenses.  Set up by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations  (NCVO) and the Charity Finance Directors’ Group , the Independent Expert Group on Expenses stated in its report that "We found little indication from the Charity Commission or from those with an overarching view of the sector that widespread public concern about expenses exists either within the sector or on the part of the general public".

The report is based on a consultation with the third sector which attracted more than 600 responses. While 44 per cent of respondents felt that greater disclosure would improve public trust in charities by demonstrating openess on the part of the sector, the same proportion felt it would have no effect. The remaining 12 per cent thought it would damage trust, citing the general lack of public understanding of the sector and the risk that information might be misinterpreted or inappropriate comparisons made.

The report stressed that there will often be reasons why disclosure is desirable for individual charities: "We encourage trustees to consider whether, in the context of their own organisations and in the interest of their stakeholders, they should go further and disclose the expenses of individual trustees and senior managers," it says.

Lindsay Driscoll, the former Charity Commissioner who chaired the group, said: “We want the sector to be open and transparent and we would encourage all trustees to consider publishing expenses, so long as it is done in a meaningful way. But we did not find enough evidence to make it a legal requirement for charities to disclose this kind of information.”  The group argued that “Compliance would arguably involve a cost and distraction from charities’ mainstream work without clear proportionate benefits in relation to public confidence.”  

The Charity Commission has already adopted a Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting by Charities (SORP 2005) under which all charities in the UK that prepare accounts on the accrual basis (generally larger company and non-company charities) are obliged to disclose the total amount of trustee expenses, the nature of the expenses and the number of trustees involved. The Independent Expert Group on Expenses also recommended that the Charity Commission review the level of compliance with the SORP requirements.