Scale of
state subsidy to largest charities may run as high as £6.5 billion
Some
may be receiving around nine tenths of income from public
sector
Report
states eight of top 50 charities are really public bodies
Think
tank: 'Taxpayers should know when charities rely on their money'
The country’s biggest charities are
getting so much money from the taxpayer that some are effectively part of the
government, a report on the funding of voluntary organisations warned
yesterday.
It said the scale of state subsidy to the
largest charities is often hidden but may run as high as half their income -
£6.5 billion a year according to the most recently available figures.
Some – including Mencap, Leonard
Cheshire Disability and Action for Children – may be receiving around nine
tenths of their income from arms of government and the public sector, the
report said.
Others do not identify the amount of money they get from the taxpayer, particularly those that operate services paid for by the public sector.
One, Marie Stopes International, fails
to say in its most recent accounts where £86 million paid for abortion and
contraceptive advice services came from.
And some organisations that are
registered as charities are really state-run quangos in disguise, the report
from the Centre for Policy Studies said.
It said eight of the top 50 charities
are really public bodies, including the Arts Council, the Big Local Trust which
distributes National Lottery good cause money, the British Council which
promotes British culture around the world, and organisations running academy
schools.
