Read a summary of the key regulatory changes in the last quarter, including the implementation of the Charities Act 2022, the Commission’s new portal for charity trustees, the new 5-minute guide on campaigning and the fraud prevention resources available to charities.
Implementation of the Charities Act 2022
The Charities Act’s provisions are expected to come into force at different points in three stages between 31 October 2022 and autumn 2023.
The three key changes that came into effect on 31 October relate to:
- Paying trustees for providing goods to the charity
- Fundraising appeals that do not raise enough or raise too much
- Power to amend Royal Charters
For more detail and for information about other changes introduced, please read the Charity Commission guidance on these recent provisions.
An overview of upcoming provisions can be found on the Charities Act 2022: implementation plan page. These include:
- Changes to how charities sell, lease or transfer land (spring 2023)
- Greater flexibility to make use of permanent endowments (spring 2023)
- Changes to how charities can amend their governing documents (autumn 2023)
Charity fraud and cybercrime
According to a recent survey, one in eight charities (12%) had experienced cybercrime in the previous 12 months. With the rise of digital fundraising and operations following the pandemic, it is now more important than ever that trustees and finance professionals understand how to best protect charities from the risk of online crime. The Fraud Advisory Panel’s annual Charity Fraud Awareness Week took place in October and you can still access all the resources online.
During Charity Fraud Awareness Week, ICAEW hosted a cybersecurity workshop which consisted of a board game exercise where teams played out scenarios of fraud and cybercrime prevention, discussing how best to invest a limited budget to keep their organisation safe.
If you think that your charity board could benefit from this interactive exercise, I can highly recommend it – it is fun, encourages lively discussions about cybercrime risks, and the facilitators were friendly and highly knowledgeable. Best of all, the training is offered free of charge to any charity and can be delivered as a virtual, hybrid or face-to-face exercise to your charity board or staff team. If anyone is interested in running the exercise, or access any of Cyber Griffin’s other services, please contact Cyber Griffin directly:
Trustee portal
At its recent Annual Public Meeting, the Charity Commission announced that its online trustee portal will be changing. In addition to the online services the portal currently offers, the portal will soon allow individual trustees to create their own, personalised logins. This way, the Commission plans to provide tailored access to its resources and guidance so that trustees can easily find the information most relevant to their charity or charities.
The Charity Commission also hopes that the portal will increase trustees' awareness of their individual accountability for collective trustee responsibilities (such as ensuring that the annual return has been submitted by the deadline). The roll out will start soon, and the Charity Commission will initially contact the person registered as the charity contact and invite them to create their individual login.
I’d encourage all charity trustees to check that the registered charity contact details on the register are correct, and that the list and the contact details of all trustees are up to date. Then, just look out for communications from the regulator on how to set up your new account.
To find out more, click here.
New 5-minute-guide: Political activity and campaigning by charities
Charity Commission Chair Orlando Fraser, who will deliver the opening keynote at our upcoming Charity Conference, introduced the Charity Commission’s new 5-minute guide on political activity and campaigning by charities at the regulator’s Annual Public Meeting.
Fraser said: “We live in times of significant challenge, and indeed turmoil, and we can expect that political debates will come into all of our lives in the months and years ahead. We should expect vigorous exchanges about what is needed from government at this time. I fully expect charities to be part of this conversation.”
The new guide makes clear that charities can take part in political activity that supports their purpose and is in their best interests and recognises that sometimes political activity may be the best way for trustees to support their charity’s purpose. However, political activity must not become the reason for the charity’s existence and charities must remain independent and must not give their support to a political party.
Trustees are advised to check their charity’s governing document for restrictions on such activity and to read the regulator’s concise guide before they engage in political activity.
Orlando Fraser’s full speech is available on the Charity Commission website.