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Payments to trustees are on the rise, though still at a negligible level overall.  Dame Mary Marsh has a new idea for tackling skills gaps on trustee boards. And Dawn Austwick's declaration that current funding policies encourage weak balance sheets has generated a groundswell of agreement from readers.

Commission approvals of trustee payments rise this year

The Charity Commission has already granted more requests from charities to pay their trustees in the first seven months of this financial year, as it did in either of the last two entire years.

Volunteering England may slash staff by over half due to government funding cuts

Trustee boards need skills gaps advisers, says Dame Mary Marsh

Dame Mary Marsh, director of the Clore Social Leadership Programme has said trustee boards should have a person dedicated to identifying skill gaps on boards that should be filled.

Sir Edward Heath Charitable Trust plans to sell Arundells

The charity caring for Arundells - the property of former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath - is drawing up plans to  sell the house and its contents against the wishes of campaigners.

Weakness of charities' balance sheets is holding the sector back, says Austwick

Dawn Austwick, chief executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, has described as "shocking" the role that funders play in encouraging charities to have weak balance sheets.

New waterways charity could have 15-year funding deal with government

The new charity to be created to administer the UK's waterways should have a completely new governance model "with localism at its core", the waterways minister has announced.

Charities Evaluation Services has launched a new tool which helps charities measure the positive and negative outcomes of collaboration.

A charity that provides advice to people who want to set up 'free schools' - a flagship policy of the Department of Education - has been reminded by the Charity Commission of the need to be independent of government.

Alison McKenna, the principal judge of the Charity Tribunal, has attacked the preference of many charity lawyers to settle disputes through the Charity Commission's internal review process rather than through the Tribunal, saying it adds unnecessary expense for the charities involved and thwarts the original intent for the Tribunal to help evolve case law.

Charities need IT representation at board level, says Brenson

The charity sector is "massively behind" the private sector in terms of having IT representation at board level, according to Andrew Brenson, head of IT at Save the Children.

Big Society still needs an independent third sector

Take care before you ride the wave of the Big Society, says Common Purpose chief executive Julia Middleton.

The GuideStar saga trundles on

For a service that was intended to promote transparency, the ongoing GuideStar saga is depressingly confusing and opaque, says Tania Mason.

Do our leaders really have what it takes to navigate the sector out of this perfect storm?

More than 80 per cent of civil society leaders come from the public and private sector. Rowena Lewis looks at what this means for aspiring leaders working in charities.