Charity Law Archive

Archive of Charity Legal Updates

2010 - New 'fit and proper person' rules

The Finance Act 2010 has introduced a new definition for tax purposes of charities and other organisations entitled to UK charity tax reliefs. The new definition includes a requirement that to be a charity, an organisation must satisfy the 'management condition'. This means its managers must be 'fit and proper persons'.

Read HMRC's guidance on the 'fit and proper person' test

2009 - End of Music Licensing Exemptions for Charities

Government has announced its decision to repeal the exemptions that apply to charities and other not-for-profit organisations when they play recorded music in their premises. A new licensing system will come into force in April 2010.

Read Government's response to the consultation on music licensing

Since the Intellectual Property Office consulted on this isse, NCVO has been concerned about the disproportionate impact that the proposed changes will have on a significant number of charities. Find out more about our 'Don't Stop the Music!' campaign

2009 - Extension of the Freedom of Information Act 2000

In early 2008, the Ministry o Justice consulted on whether the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FoIA) should be extended to organisations providing services on behalf of government.

The Government's response 'Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Designation of additional public authorities' has decided that charities will not be included within the scope of the Act.

2008 - New thresholds for financial reporting

From 1 April, the higher income thresholds above which charities must comply with stricter accounting rules have come into force. The changes follow a consultation held jointly by the Office of the Third Sector and the Charity Commission. Details can be found in the Government's response to the financial thresholds consultation (PDF 120KB).

2008 - NCVO Response to OSCR's Consultation on Monitoring Cross-Border Charities

Since 2006, Scotland has had its own charity law and regulator, the Office of the Scottish Regulator (OSCR). This means that charities based in England and Wales which also operate in Scotland may have to register with OSCR as well as with the Charity Commission.

OSCR has been seeking views as to whether cross border charities should submit additional information about their finances and activities that are specific to their work in Scotland.

NCVO has expressed concern about the disproportionate burden of regulation that the proposed monitoring programme would introduce for cross-border charities, duplicating requests for information that is already made available to the Charity Commission. All our comments can be found in the NCVO's response to the cross-border monitoring consultation (PDF 114KB).

Charity Commission launches online toolkit for local authorities

The Charity Commission have launched a toolkit aimed at helping local authorities to manage the relationship with their local charitable sector. The free, online toolkit uses real life case studies in order to explore different aspects of the relationship including: legal issues; how to set up a charity; trustee expenses and the remit of the charity commission. The toolkit is available from the Charity Commission website.

All Charities Operating in Scotland to Register with the OSCR

The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, which mostly came into force in April 2006, has introduced a number of important changes, including transferring responsibility for charitable status in Scotland from HM Revenue and Customs to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

A key principle of the Act is that all activities of charities in Scotland should be regulated by OSCR, regardless of where the charity is first registered. This means that even bodies registered as charities elsewhere (such as with the Charity Commission in England and Wales) will also have to register with the OSCR if they wish to operate as a charity in Scotland.

2007 - New merger provisions come into effect

The new provisions to facilitate charity mergers came into effect on 28th November 2007. For charities that have merged, this allows for any future legacies in their name to be applied to the successor charity directly once the charity has registered with the Charity Commission.

The Charity Commission has published CC34 - Collaborative Working and Mergers: An introduction to assist organisations thinking about merging or working collaboratively.