Bermuda plans to set its own accreditation standards for local charities.

It is hoped these will exceed international standards, the House of Assembly heard yesterday.

Health and Family Services Minister Patrice Minors said there was a growing trend for charities to be accredited.

This was because donors wanted to ensure their money was being well spent and that charities were financially and socially responsible.

Ms Minors said the Bermuda National Standards Committee was set up in 2004 to begin the process of accrediting local charities. At present there were several local charities already accredited by the US Council of Accreditation (COA). But charities were nervous about going through an expensive process every four years to become accredited in the US.

Ms Minors said the Bermuda National Standards Committee (BNSC) was hoping to sign a memorandum of understanding with the US Council of Accreditation.

Once this was done, the COA would provide the BNSC with the American standard.

"The Council on Accreditation in the US will then review the standard and issue a letter stating that the policies and procedures governing the accreditation of Bermudian agencies meet or exceed the COA's standard."

The aim was for the Bermuda standard to exceed international ones.

Ms Minors stressed that accreditation would not be mandatory.

For charities that do not quite meet the requirements to be accredited there will be a certificate provided they prove they have a high level of governance, record keeping and financial management.

The NSC is currently being funded by Government and the Donor Forum.