Proposed legislation to update and strengthen charity law in
Scotland has passed its first parliamentary stage.
MSPs have voted to support the general principles of the
Charities (Regulation and Administration) Bill which improves
accountability and transparency of charities and increases the
powers of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
Welcoming Parliament’s unanimous support at Stage 1 of the Bill,
Social Justice Secretary said:
“Our focus is to ensure the best possible conditions for the
sector, which plays a vital role in our society, to thrive.
“Current charity law is now over 17 years old and the sector has
changed significantly in that time. That is why we want to
strengthen, modernise and improve charity regulation to ensure it
meets the needs of charities.
“Scottish charities have a combined income of £14 billion each
year so it’s crucial the way they are regulated remains fit for
purpose.
“Charities are widely supported by the public. Trust in them and
what they deliver is high, and we want to keep it that way.”
Background
The Charities (Regulation
and Administration) (Scotland) Bill is a 2022-23
Programme for Government commitment.
Provisions in the Bill include:
- updating the criteria for the automatic disqualification of
charity trustees and extending it to individuals with specific
senior management positions in charities
- removal from the Scottish Charity Register of unresponsive
charities that fail to submit statements of account.
- a requirement for all charities in the Scottish Charity
Register to have and retain a connection to Scotland.
- a requirement on OSCR to publish the statements of account
for all charities in the Scottish Charity Register.
- requirements on OSCR to include charity trustee names in the
Scottish Charity Register, to keep an internal schedule of
charity trustees’ details and to create a publicly searchable
record of charity trustees removed by the courts.
The Scottish Government consulted on proposals put forward by
OSCR in 2019 and consulted again on a number of specific reforms
in 2021 and found a majority of support for the changes.
