Pensions and HR

The responsibilities of employers are ever changing as new regulations and legal cases change the rules, so you need to stay up to date. Mistakes in applying the rules can create reputational risks and also be financially costly.

Pensions are an equally complex area, and many charities struggle to navigate the pensions maze effectively. For some organisations pension liabilities are their biggest financial risk, so use our information to ensure yours are properly managed.

 

CFG Briefing: Budget 2021
3 March 2021
CFG's member briefing on the Chancellor's Budget Statement, 3 March 2021.

Finance Focus October 2020
23 October 2020
Welcome to the October 2020 edition of Finance Focus. Issues covered inside: Mental health; fraud; audits; training; Brexit and much more!

Finance Focus September
22 September 2020
Let's raise our voice to raise Gift Aid!

How to avoid bias in job advert writing
18 September 2020

Finance Focus Feb 2020
2 March 2020
Recruitment and retention How to recruit and retain top employees 1.0.0.20 1.0.0.20

The charity work force in post-Brexit Britain
5 June 2018

Navigating the Charity Pension Maze
17 January 2018
Charity Finance Group (CFG) has launched the latest edition of Navigating the Charity Pensions Maze. We’ve brought together the experts in the field to guide you through the latest changes ...

Accounting disclosures under multi-employer pension schemes
18 February 2014
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is replacing current UK GAAP with effect from periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015. The changes affecting occupational pension schemes are set out ...

Pension Auto Enrolment Checklist
18 December 2013
Pension Auto Entrolment Checklist - an audit assessment

Auto-enrolment for Small Charities
1 November 2013
From 2015 onwards, we estimate that 22,000 charities will have to comply with pension auto-enrolment regulations. To support small charities with the auto-enrolment process, CFG has produced this guide in ...

Pension Policy
1 January 2007
Pension policy template.

Post-Brexit immigration rules could cause skills shortage in charities
5 June 2018
A new report from the Institute of Public Policy Research, commissioned by Charity Finance Group, has found that 82% of EU nationals currently working in the charity sector would be ...

CFG welcomes new regulations on multi-employer pension schemes
7 March 2018
Charity Finance Group has welcomed a response from government to the consultation launched last year on the draft “Occupational Pension Schemes (Employer Debt and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018”.

Government warned against raiding charities to fund private sector apprenticeships
30 March 2017
Charity Finance Group and 23 of the leading national charities have written to the Education Secretary calling for Government to reform the Apprenticeship Levy so that charitable funds aren’t used ...

Navigating the charity pensions maze
23 March 2017
Charity Finance Group has launched the latest edition of Navigating the Charity Pensions Maze - the definitive guide to charity pensions.

CFG responds to LGPS consultation
20 August 2016
CFG has responded to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) consultation on draft changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 (SI/2356), and the Local Government Pension ...

CFG leads the call to delay Apprenticeship Levy
5 August 2016
CFG has led a call for a delay in the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in order to protect the quality of apprenticeships and skills investment.

Update on the Apprenticeship Levy
31 March 2016
CFG's policy team have been working to ensure the forthcoming Apprenticeship Levy works for charities, and that charities are aware of the impact of it.

Attracting talent and creating a strong employer brand in large charities
11 March 2021
In advance of the CFG Large Charities event on 18 March, Leadership Coach and Business Mentor Nicki Deeson interviews Guy Hayward, CEO of Goodman Masson.

Recruiting trustees from Black and Asian network organisations - it really isn’t rocket science!
6 July 2020
Malcolm John the founder of Action for Trustee Racial Diversity shares insights gained from his quest to improve racial diversity at board level.

Updated Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Guidance
22 June 2020
Richard Sagar, Policy Manager at CFG gives an update on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme update
4 June 2020
By Richard Sagar, Policy Manager, Charity Finance Group. On 29 May, at the daily press briefing, the Chancellor announced that the government’s five tests for easing lockdown measures had been ...

Are you looking after yourself during the crisis?
23 March 2020
Our everyday lives are being disrupted in so many ways, and your emotional wellbeing is really important.

It's time to banish the 'flexibility stigma'
30 July 2018
Frances Lang newly appointed CEO of Variety the Children's Charity, discusses her experiences of flexible working and how this has interacted with her career – and gives some tips on ...

Concerned about new charity staff disqualification rules? Help is at hand!
8 March 2018
This is a guest blog from Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock, an independent charity which provides a voice and support for people with convictions who are facing stigma and obstacles ...

Caron Bradshaw - Charity Finance Group Annual Fundraising Dinner Speech 2017
10 November 2017
My Lords, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our annual fundraising dinner. This continues to be a very important date in our diary, contributing significant ...

Time to review your risks? An update from the experts...
3 October 2017
Ahead of their sessions at CFG's Risk & Sustainability Conference 2017, sector experts Kate Sayer and Rosie Chapman look at risks and reserves, how they are managed and what you ...

6 simple steps your charity can take to help protect themselves from fundraising fraud
25 September 2017
Fundraising fraud is where a fraudster (who might be known) collects money on behalf of the charity but keeps some or all of the money and can be difficult for ...

CFG Chair Speech to Annual Conference 2017
18 May 2017
CFG Chair, Ian Theodoreson Speech to the CFG Annual Conference 2017 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY CFG celebrates its 30th birthday this year. For me personally, 2017 marks my own 30th ...

A step closer to reforming Section 75
28 April 2017
If your charity is part of a non-associated multi-employer pension scheme you will be pleased - and relieved - to know that there has been some progress in reforming Section 75 ...

Better partnerships needed between finance and fundraising teams
13 April 2017
Fundraising isn’t just about fundraisers. It is about the whole organisation. One of the lessons that the sector has had to learn is that good fundraising requires the whole organisation ...

Navigating the Charity Pensions Maze
23 March 2017
Charity Finance Group has launched the 2017 edition of Navigating the Charity Pensions Maze. This is the definitive guide on pensions for charities

Auto-enrolment update from The Pensions Regulator
3 February 2017
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) provides CFG monthly auto-enrolment updates. These blogs provide the latest guidance and messages from the regulator adapted by CFG for the charity sector. This month Charles ...

Five things to look forward to in 2017
9 January 2017

Small charities and auto-enrolment: do you have everything in place?
8 November 2016

Government must get on with pensions reform
7 November 2016

Apprenticeship levy update - October 2016
25 October 2016
This morning the Department for Education announced updates to their plans for reforming the apprenticeship system. Of particular interest to charities is the extension in the time that employers will ...

Small charities and auto-enrolment: choosing a pension scheme
19 September 2016

Tony Armstrong looks at Devolution: working with local organisations to transform public services
5 September 2016

Devolution is our chance to advocate for the most vulnerable
2 September 2016
Kathy Evans, CEO of Children England highlights the important voice that the voluntary sector has and how they can use it to be a power of advocacy. 

How will the 'devolution revolution' be financed?
1 September 2016
At CFG, Locality, NAVCA and Children England's The Voluntary Sector and Devolution Summit we'll be looking at the key concerns about financing  local government under devolution deals. 

Caron asks: 'Why does the voluntary sector need a devolution summit?'
31 August 2016
Caron Bradshaw, CEO of Charity Finance Group, explains why CFG has worked with partners to organise the Devolution and the Voluntary Sector Summit and why she thinks it is important ...

Do charities need to become social enterprises to survive?
4 August 2016
Heather Black at Economic Change asks “Is charity becoming irrelevant?” - this will be the question posed at the Large Charities Conference taking place in September, hosted by Charity Finance ...

EU Referendum: What could this mean for charities?
6 June 2016
As the 23rd June appears closer and closer this Europe's Final Countdown song has never felt more relevant as the UK public decides whether they will be voting to remain ...

Is the SORP FRS 102 working for you?
5 May 2016

Apprenticeships Levy Update - Guidance for Charity Employers
22 April 2016
The government has published the an employer’s guide for the Apprenticeship Levy. This blog highlights the key issues that CFG has identified on first analysis.

Apprenticeship Levy update: what charities need to know
31 March 2016
Earlier this month, CFG organised a round table with the Skills Minister, Nick Boles MP, to discuss the challenges the Apprenticeship Levy will impose on the sector and our recommendations ...

What do we do with a problem like LGPS?
5 August 2015

What’s the latest data on charity sector income and expenditure?
10 June 2015
The UK Civil Society Almanac 2015 is here and as ever provides a wealth of valuable data.

Section 75 debt reform - an opportunity we cannot afford to miss
26 May 2015
Last Friday saw the close of the Department for Work and Pension’s call for evidence on (the catchily titled) Section 75 Employer Debt in Non-Associated Multi-Employer Defined Benefit Schemes. 

Capacity building – a dividing line in 2015?
10 March 2015

Looking back on 2014
9 December 2014
As we approach the end of 2014, it’s time for some reflection. The year has whizzed by shockingly quickly. 

Tackling the looming pensions crisis
6 August 2014
Charity Commission Chair William Shawcross recently said that the “deadliest threat” to the sector comes from Islamic extremism. I, however, disagree. I would suggest that the biggest threat the sector ...

Transparency: Finding the right balance
6 June 2014

Vision for sector post-2015. What did the politicians have to say at the CFG Annual Conferece?
19 May 2014
Following our overwhelmingly successful Annual Conference last Thursday, back at CFG-HQ we are now digesting the political nuggets that were debated in our closing plenary by the Minister for Civil ...

Making CFG fit for the future
9 May 2014

Managing in a Downturn Report Reflections....
11 April 2014
Yesterday saw the launch of the seventh ‘Managing in Downturn’ report – a survey series that we have run in partnership with the Institute of Fundraising and PwC since the ...

Accounting at the sharp end: A report from the Community Accountancy Conference 2014
10 February 2014
I’ve not long returned from a short sojourn in rain-drenched Birmingham. Several CFG colleagues and I donned both our waterproofs and chainmail armour in order to sally forth into the ...

Charities: growth or sustainability - why it matters for their pensions
3 December 2013
As the House of Lords conducts the second reading of the Pension’s Bill today, there are many valuable points being made by industry and stakeholder representatives.

Pension charges: Is transparency enough?
2 December 2013
‘Hands off our pensions’ they cried… WHICH Campaign ‘Don’t dumb down pensions’ she qualified... Ross Altman BBC Today Program ‘Don’t mess with our free markets’… Various industry bodies

How are charities faring with auto-enrolment
14 November 2013
By the end of this year, almost 215 of the largest charities will have complied with the duty to auto-enrolled their employees. Another 25,000 will do so by 2018.  We’ve ...

We're all in! Are you?
12 November 2013
‘In what?’ I hear you ask. No, I’m not referring to being in CFG’s new offices, what I mean is ‘in a pension scheme’ of course. 

Big Board Talk
8 October 2013
Looked in the mirror lately? Picked up a telescope?  We’re encouraging charities to do just that in our latest podcast, recorded with CFG’s Jane Tully. 

Why recruitment from the private sector may be increasing in charity finance teams
4 June 2013
Charity Finance Group’s latest People and Pay Survey (formerly Salary Survey) showed a significant increase in recruitment from the private sector into charity finance teams, but what are the drivers ...

The charity finance professional in 2013: insights from CFG’s latest People and Pay Survey
26 April 2013
This week sees the release of our latest People and Pay Survey (formerly Salary Survey), which tracks trends in salaries, recruitment and wider employment issues in charity finance teams. 

Allen Lane
With an extensive network of contacts, ranging from local not for profit organisations to the charity super-brands, our passion and expertise makes us the first port of call for many.

Goodman Masson
Financial recruitment business in London recruiting professionally qualified accountants and other finance professionals for over 20 years.

Hays Senior Finance
With 20 years expertise of supporting charities and not-for-profit organisations, Hays provide a specialist recruitment service, delivered locally, across the UK. Our clients include major fundraising charities, NGO’s, grant making ...

Marble Mayne Recruitment
Cost-effective and flexible Finance & IT recruitment for the not for profit sector.

MLC Partners
MLC Partners is a boutique recruitment partner to the Charity and wider Third sector. Our business is simple, but different. We see to building strong, honest, long term relationships with ...

Spence & Partners
Spence & Partners is a privately owned UK firm of actuaries, pension consultants that operate throughout the United Kingdom with a focus on providing advice with a personal touch to ...

The HR Services Partnership Ltd
Established in 2003 to provide smaller organisations within the charity sector with access to affordable, bespoke HR support, this remains our core purpose today. We support some 180 charities a ...

XPS Pensions Group
XPS Pensions Group is the largest pure pensions consultancy in the UK, specialising in actuarial, investment consulting and administration. The XPS Pensions Group business combines expertise, insight and technology to ...