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OBSERVATIONSBody polItIc Nigel Hawkes column slug Column Excluded in the study, for the total group of folks with authorHave S are brought to our attention relating to apparent violations of neutrality charities been silenced by government gold? Head 28 boldcharities Intro 15 received a record ?00m in the nHs last year--will this stop them speaking out?Last week the head of a major mental well being charity created an appeal for funds. Nowadays, when charities fall short in their fundraising it's not mainly because they can not wheedle any extra pennies out of reluctant donors by means of flag days, secondhand shops, or legacies, but mainly because their government grants and contracts have not come up to scratch. To those raised in the conviction that charities ought to be almost everything that government is not, the extent to which the two sectors have develop into interdependent is outstanding. Hands up those who knew that more than 90 in the income of Mencap or Leonard Cheshire--two high-profile charities-- comes from the government. Or two thirds in the income of Dr Barnardo's. Even fiercely independent organisations which include the Salvation Army have been dragged in, as donations from its personal members and legacies decline and grants for social perform from government grow, accounting in 2005-6 to get a fifth of its revenues. Amongst the bigger charities--those with an earnings of more than ?0m (14.6m; 20.3m) a year--two thirds get 80 or far more title= j.1467-9507.2007.00408.x of their revenue from delivering public services. If a charity is significant, you might conclude, it is not because it has the warm-hearted support of millions, but since it is acting as a servant from the state. Just how much income charities get from national and nearby government is tough to ascertain. They are lumped together with other voluntary and nonprofit organisations as TSOs, or "third sector organisations." The Residence Office says that in 2001-2, TSOs received ?.37bn, ?04m of which came in the NHS. Others put the figures far greater: no one truly knows. But have charities that pick to provide solutions struck anything of a Faustian bargain, sacrificing their rights to campaign in favour of an income stream? When the Charity Commission conducted a survey in 2006, it found that only 26 of charities that deliver services agreed they were free to make choices without pressure to conform towards the wishes of their paymasters. A minority--less than 10 -- admitted that their activities were determined more by funding possibilities than by their mission. A charity that sees its main job as attracting grants and contracts is just not in any typical sense a charity at all. This really is not to say that such organisations don't behave charitably. Sadly it is government, national and nearby, that is certainly the beneficiary. The survey discovered that only 12 of charities recovered all their expenses, in all cases, when they supplied title= journal.pone.0075009 solutions. That implies that 88 of them, to a single extent or title= fphar.2015.00210 a further, are subsidising government or its agencies. This is a radical redefinition of a charity's part, but not one of which their supporters would necessarily approve. The Charity Commission warned there could be consequences for charities for feeding at the public trough, though naturally it did not put it as crud.