Regulator issues charity pay warning

Source BBC News@ tienganhvui.com

5 August 2013 Last updated at 23:01 ET

William Shawcross questioned whether high salaries were "fair" to donors and taxpayers

Large salaries paid to charity staff could "bring the charitable world into disrepute", a regulator has warned.

Charity Commission chairman William Shawcross said organisations must ask if pay levels are "really appropriate".

The Daily Telegraph reported 30 staff at 14 leading UK foreign aid charities were paid £100,000 or more last year.

The charities make up the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which said charities must find "a balance" between low costs and "robust management".

Mr Shawcross, who reportedly receives a £50,000 annual salary to work two days a week, said the commission could not tell charities how much they should pay their executives, but urged them to be cautious.

"In these difficult times, when many charities are experiencing shortfalls, trustees should consider whether very high salaries are really appropriate, and fair to both the donors and the taxpayers who fund charities," he said.

"Disproportionate salaries risk bringing organisations and the wider charitable world into disrepute."

'Broadly in line'

According to the Telegraph, British Red Cross chief executive Sir Nick Young was paid £184,000 last year, two Save the Children executives received more than £160,000 each and Christian Aid chief executive Loretta Minghella was paid £126,072.

The number of staff being paid more than £100,000 at the 14 charities it focused on had risen from 19 since 2010, the newspaper added.

DEC works to help people affected by disasters around the world, such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake

A spokesman for DEC, which co-ordinates work after disasters overseas, told the Telegraph executive pay at its member organisations was "broadly in line" with other charities.

"To ensure the most effective use of appeal funds, a balance must be struck between minimising overheads and ensuring a robust management system is in place," he said.

"Good management of emergency responses in the UK allows our member agencies to deliver the planning, monitoring, accountability and transparency that this work requires and that the public rightly demands.

"The proportion of DEC appeal funds that can be spent by member agencies on the UK management of their disaster responses is capped at seven per cent."

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