Ms Madeleine Delaney:

I cannot say specifically but it is something we look at and we draw the attention of charities to it. The main way in which we do this is when charities come to us to register. The registration process is as much teaching charities about what it means to be a charity, what they can expect in running the charity and what the requirements of being a charity are as it is about meeting the requirements of the Act. In that instance, they might talk about having employees from the very start or having a specific numbers of employees. When they have not even started operations, we may question as to whether this is, in fact, necessary at this point in time. We ask them to go away and look at that.

We provide them with the information I have just spoken about there about how to recruit people. It all boils down to that; it is not just in relation to your staff. It is in relation to services and everything you pay for. It is about ensuring you get good value for money, much as we are required to do in the public sector.