Charities update - September 2022

Published 29 September 2022

More changes are afoot for charities and, in this edition of our newsletter, we focus on important developments relating to how charities approach bullying and harassment and the latest on implementation of the Charities Act 2022, plus we shine a light on what charities should be doing in the wake of a serious incident, as well as taking a look at what charities need to know about the law around transgender issues.

Charity annual returns to become more onerous? 

Completing your charity’s annual return is potentially going to be harder work from next year, with the Charity Commission looking to significantly increase the number of questions it will be asking charities in their annual returns, with the aim of obtaining a clearer picture of the charity sector and being able to identify emerging issues at an earlier stage. In this briefing, we look at what’s being proposed and what to expect next.

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Latest on legislative changes and code of practice updates for charities

As reported in our article published on 11 May 2022, the first tranche of provisions of the Charities Act 2022 are due to come into force in Autumn this year. There are other changes afoot.  The Fundraising Regulator has announced that a full review of the Code of Fundraising Practice will commence this Autumn.  In addition, the Social Housing Regulation Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, may bring further changes for social housing charities. This article looks at what the guidance is on those provisions of the Charities Act 2022 that are due to come into force this Autumn.

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Is your charity reporting serious incidents as it should?

The Charity Commission’s recently published annual report for 2021-22 saw a 20% reduction in the number of serious incident reports made by charities compared with the previous year (3,451 in 2021-22 compared with 4,308 in 2020-21).   This represents an even more significant reduction compared with the year before that (5,730 incident reports in 2019-20, which was the year the current online serious incident reporting form and updated guidance was introduced). In this briefing, we recap on what the serious incident reporting requirements are and how to comply with them.

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Trustee duties on bullying and harassment

In August the Charity Commission clarified the responsibilities of trustees in preventing and responding to incidents of bullying and harassment in their charities. This article examines roles of both the trustees and of the Charity Commission.  

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Recent Charity Commission inquiry: what can your charity learn?

Charity Commission inquiry reports continue to give real life examples of the Charity Commission’s approach to its regulatory role. In this briefing we look at a recent inquiry report into Support the Heroes and the interesting issues raised that relate to protecting a charity's reputation, fundraising and conflicts of interest.   

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Transgender individuals: information governance and the Equality Act 2010

It has been estimated that there are around 500,000 transgender people within the UK. The law and guidance that relates to the provision of services to transgender people can be complex and is rapidly evolving, and it is imperative that charities understand their legal obligations. Failure to do presents reputational risk, as well as the risk of legal claims. In this article we provide an overview of the key legislation and guidance, and in particular, information governance obligations and duties under the Equality Act 2010.

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