CHARITY fundraisers in Scotland are to be probed over their tactics after recent complaints sparked a review south of the Border.
The move comes after revelations about aggressive tactics and targeting of vulnerable elderly of UK charities following the death of 92-year-old poppy seller Olive Cooke.
Her body was found in the Avon Gorge in Bristol in May after she had complained about being hounded by requests from fundraisers for donations.
The Scottish Government has asked umbrella body the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (scvo) to carry out the review and report back by the end of next month on the extent of any problems north of the border.
David Cameron has already announced that the UK Government will change the law to rein in rogue fundraisers who target vulnerable people for charity donations. This is despite the fact that a review the Prime Minister ordered into the effectiveness of self-regulation and whether any further legislation is needed is still underway.
Four leading UK charities - NSPCC, British Red Cross, Oxfam and Macmillan Cancer Support - are currently under investigation over their use of telephone fund-raising companies.
They are accused of using a call centre which targeted people for donations even if they were registered with the Telephone Preference Service to prevent cold-calling. Journalists in England have also exposed alleged malpractice by call centres working for charities including the targeting of people with Alzheimers' disease or dementia for donations and the deluging of people with direct mail seeking support.
The fundraising crisis emerged after it emerged Ms Cooke had been hounded by charity callers and had received hundreds of direct mail appeals in the months before her death.
Some organisations, including Save the Children, have since said they will stop using cold-calling to target existing or new supporters.
Charities north of the Border have largely been immune from the crisis, but the Scottish Government is understood to think a review is necessary to ensure practice is responsible and to improve public trust in the sector.
Any changes to the law in England would not directly affect charities in Scotland, in theory, as charity policy is devolved. Should it be felt that change is needed in Scotland, new Holyrood legislation might be required to extend the powers of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
However changes in practice for the Fundraising Standards Board might well have an effect in Scotland as it has a UK-wide remit.
John Downie, director of public affairs at scvo, said there was no evidence of aggressive fundraising practices in Scotland, although many charities operate on both sides of the Border.
He added: "Recent media stories about poor practise in some areas of fundraising impact on the public reputation of the whole sector. Scvo believes its vital that the industry can effectively tackle bad behaviour so the public can enjoy the experience of donating to charity safe in the knowledge their money is well spent.
"We therefore welcome the Scottish Government decision to launch a review into fundraising in Scotland to run alongside the review being carried out in England. Scvo will announce in due course more details of how this review will be carried out."
A government spokesman said: "Scotland has a strong and supportive view of charities and its own fundraising legislation. Our controls have served Scotland well so far, however we are always looking at improvements so will consider the UK Government's proposals closely.
"In the meantime we have asked the Scvo to undertake an informal review of our fundraising position with the findings due to be reported by the end of August. Any changes will be tailored to suit the needs of people in Scotland."
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