Regulation and legislation

Trustees can find themselves facing tough decisions, including when it comes to accepting donations. The Charity Commission for England and Wales has recently issued guidance to aid trustees in navigating these challenging situations.

All applicants will be asked as part of the registration process to declare whether the applicant organisation is linked to or has been established by a non-charitable organisation. A charity may establish or maintain a close relationship with connected non-charitable organisations but these links need to be appropriately managed, can result in significant risks and can, in certain instances, impact charitable status. This article considers connected entities and what applicants will need to consider when submitting their application.

The Charity Commission recently published a forward-looking strategy designed to steer the Commission's regulatory efforts over the next five years.

ICAEW’s Charity Committee Chair calls for more balanced and proportionate regulation as charities brace for a demanding year ahead.

Assessing the public benefit requirement is an essential part of any registration application. Personal benefit is an important part of that requirement and can come in various shapes and sizes. Applicants should in all instances consider the nature and scope of any personal benefit and how that impacts the organisation’s claim to charitable status. This article outlines the principles of personal benefit in more detail and what applicants need to consider when submitting their application.

While the Autumn Statement made little explicit reference to charities, its measures will be felt by the charity sector, whether that’s in increased wage bills due to the uplifted National Living Wage or the impact on demand from those that rely on charities’ services. Lourens Du Plessis, member of the Charity Community’s Advisory Group and Managing Director of Church and Charity Professional Services at Stewardship, shares his reaction to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

The impact of regulation on our members and the wider economy is enormous. ICAEW’s Better Regulation initiative aims to help us assess whether the UK’s regulatory regime is “good enough” (we know it isn’t perfect) and how it might be improved, drawing on our experience and insights from ICAEW members. We now need your help to understand which areas of regulation are impacting charities the most.

As part of this series of articles, we have been covering common registration themes and issues. This article will update ICAEW Charity Community members about recent changes to our model CIO constitutions introduced by the Charities Act 2022.

Drafting your organisation’s objects comes with a reputation for being something of a fine art. That doesn’t need to be the case. This article will explain the fundamentals of charitable purposes and assist you in drafting objects that are exclusively charitable.

To be a charity in England and Wales, an organisation must be established for charitable purposes only. It is a legal requirement that a charitable purpose must be for the public benefit. All organisations applying to register as a charity must clearly demonstrate how their stated purposes are and will be carried out for the public benefit. This article will explain what the public benefit requirement is and how it can be demonstrated when applying to register as a charity.