| Charity
Law
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The work of the Home Office’s Charities Unit is
concerned with the law affecting charities in England
and Wales. The work undertaken is to make sure that the
legal framework helps charities to develop their activities
and services and to play an increasing role for good in
society, while at the same time it gives the public confidence
in the integrity of charities. There are four strands
to that work:
- Responsibility for the reform of charity law.
The Charities Unit has overall responsibility for managing
the implementation of the Prime Minister’s Strategy
Unit report
"Private Action, Public Benefit: a Review of Charities
and the Wider-Not-for-Profit Sector". The Government’s
response to that report was set out in Charities and Not-for-Profits:
A Modern Legal Framework
Some of the proposals are for HM Treasury, the Department
of Trade and Industry and the Charity Commission to
take forward and not all of the proposals require legislation
to give them effect. A
draft Charities Bill was published on 27th May 2004
to give effect to many of the proposals. The draft Charities
Bill was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint
Committee of both Houses. Details of the Joint Committee
and the evidence that has been considered by it can
be found on The United Kingdom Parliament website. The
Joint Committee published the Report of its Recommendations
on 30 September 2004. The Government published its Response
to the Joint Committee’s report on 21 December
2004, at the same time as the Charities Bill was published,
on the day after the Bill’s introduction in the
House of Lords.
The Government’s consultation paper on proposals
for a new local authority licensing scheme, “Public
Collections for Charitable, Philanthropic and Benevolent
Purposes”, was published on 9 September 2003,
with a closing date for responses of 2 December 2003.
A written Ministerial Statement was made on the 27th
May 2004 detailing the outcome of the consultation and
how the proposals will be taken forward. The Statement,
a summary of the consultation responses received and
a Regulatory Impact Assessment, are available in our
publications section below.
Draft Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations
2005 Consultation Papers, published on 24 November 2004,
invite comments on proposed changes to the accounting
and reporting framework for charities other
than investment fund charities and for investment
fund charities. The consultation closes on 18 February
2005.
- Supporting Home Office Ministers in relation to
their responsibilities in respect of the Charity Commission.
The Home Secretary appoints the Charity Commissioners,
lays the Commission's annual report and other reports
relating to them before Parliament, replies to Questions
in Parliament about the Commission and makes Orders to
give effect to changes in charities’ constitutions
which are regulated by Acts of Parliament and have been
agreed by the Commission.
- Monitoring new legislation and changes to existing
legislation to try to ensure that it would not place
charities at a disadvantage compare with other organisations.
- The regulation of public collections for charities.
We approve local authority regulations governing collections
which are made in the street. We make orders which
exempt charities from the need to apply to a local
authority for permission to do a collection house
to house and where a local authority refuses a licence
for a house to house collection we consider any appeal
which the charity may lodge against the local authority’s
refusal.
Email enquiries should be entitled ‘Charity Reform’
and be sent to:
public_enquiry.acu@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Publications
The draft Charities (National Trust) Order 2005 was
laid before Parliament on 13 January 2005. This Order
is required to bring into effect a Scheme made by the
Charity Commissioners under section 17 of the Charities
Act 1993 which will alter the governance arrangements
for the administration of the National Trust and must
lie for 40 days before each House of Parliament.
The Charities Bill was introduced into the House of
Lords on 20 December 2004 and is available from the
United Kingdom Parliament Website, along with Explanatory
Notes to the Bill.
- Regulatory Impact Assessment:
- The Government’s response to the Joint
Committee’s report on the draft Charities
Bill was also published on 21 December 2004.
Dummy
Regulations under the Charities Bill for the Charitable
Incorporated Organisation
(file size 322kb)
Draft Charities Bill:
The
Joint Committee's Report of its Recommendations
on the draft Charities Bill was published on 30 September
2004 and it is available from the United Kingdom Parliament
website.
The draft Charities Bill was published on 27th May
2004. The document has been split into several sections:
A press release was issued at the time of publication
Other Publications:
Response to the Consultation on Public Collections:
Charities and Not-for-Profits: A Modern Legal Framework
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Useful links
Association
of Charitable Foundations
Association
of Charity Independent Examiners
CharityBank
Charity
Commission
Charity
Finance Director' Group (CFDG)
CharityNet
(Charities Aid Foundation - CAF)
Companies
House
Department
for Constitutional Affairs
Department
for Culture Media and Sport
Department
for Trade and Industry
Financial
Services Authority (FSA)
Gaming
Board for Great Britain
HM
Customs and Excise
Her
Majesty's Stationery Office
HM
Treasury
Housing
Corporation
Inland
Revenue
Institute
of Fundraising
Land
Registry
National
Council for Voluntary Organisations
Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister
Office
of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)
Public
Fundraising Regulatory Association
The
Giving Campaign
The
Scottish Executive
The
Welsh Assembly
Wales
Council for Voluntary Action
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