Charity Commission for England and Wales

Non-ministerial government department overview
Formed 27 February 2007 (2007-02-27)
Superseding agency
  • Charity Commission
Jurisdiction England and Wales
Headquarters 1 Drummond Gate, London SW1V 2QQ
Employees 288
Annual budget £21.4 million (2014−2015) [1]
Non-ministerial government department executive
Key document
Website www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission

The Charity Commission for England and Wales is the non-ministerial government department that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities.

The Charity Commission answers directly to the UK Parliament rather than to Government ministers. It is governed by a board, which is assisted by the Chief Executive (currently Paula Sussex) and an executive team.[2] The current Chair is William Shawcross.[3] The previous Chair was Dame Suzi Leather, DBE, who was appointed Chair of the Commission's board on 1 August 2006, after being chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the School Food Trust.[4] Geraldine Peacock, CBE, was Chief Charity Commissioner (as previous chairs of the Commission have been known) from 2003 to 2006, and Chair-designate from 8 July 2004 to 2006. It has four sites in London, Taunton, Liverpool and Newport. The commission's website lists the latest accounts submitted by charities in England and Wales.

Exempt, Excepted, and other non-registered charities

Some charities are not subject to regulation by or registration with the Charity Commission, because they are already regulated by another body, and are known as exempt charities. Most exempt charities are listed in Schedule 3 to the Charities Act 2011, but some charities are made exempt by other acts. However exempt charities must still comply with charity law and may approach the Charity Commission for advice.

Some charities are 'excepted' from charity registration. This just means they don't have to register or submit annual returns, but are in all other respects subject to regulation by the Charity Commission. A charity is excepted if its income is £100,000 or less and it is in one of the following groups: churches and chapels belonging to certain Christian denominations; charities that provide premises for some types of schools; Scout and Guide groups; and charitable service funds of the armed forces.

In addition, if a charity's income is below the normal threshold for registration (£5,000), then it is not required to be registered with the Charity Commission. Nevertheless, it remains subject to regulation by the Charity Commission in all other respects.

Charities operating across other national borders within the United Kingdom

Registration of a charity in England and Wales does not endow that status elsewhere thus further registration has to be made before operating in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Charities in Scotland are regulated by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

In Northern Ireland the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland was established in 2009 to replace earlier regulation by the Voluntary and Community Unit of the Department for Social Development, part of the Northern Ireland Executive.

Regulatory action

The Commission carries out general monitoring of charities as part of its regular casework. It also has powers set out in the Charities Acts to conduct statutory investigations. However, opening a full statutory inquiry into a charity has a detrimental effect on the relationship with the regulator and can frustrate the intention to achieve a positive outcome. The Commission therefore began around 2007 to carry out an intermediate form of action described as regulatory compliance investigations. In 2010 it opened over 140 of these cases, compared to just three full statutory investigations. However, the legality of these actions was debatable as they lacked a statutory basis. A high-profile example was the Commission's report into The Atlantic Bridge, after which that body was dissolved in September 2011. The Commission announced in October 2011, in the context of cost-cutting and a re-focussing of its activities, that it would no longer carry out regulatory compliance investigations.[5][6]

Some of the activities of the Commission have been questioned by the Public Administration Select Committee, which oversees the Commission's work. For instance on 23 October 2012, Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover accused the Commission of "suppressing Christianity", after the Committee heard that a religious group was refused charitable status by the Charity Commission, despite the group’s attempts to demonstrate that it undertook genuine charitable works.[7] Elphicke asked at the hearing if the Commission was "actively trying to suppress religion in the UK, particularly the Christian religion" and stated "I think they [the Commission] are committed to the suppression of religion".[8]

History

Prior to the 1840s, a body of Commissioners had been established by the Statue of Charitable Uses 1601, but these proved ineffective. The Charity Commission was first established by the Charitable Trusts Act 1853. There had been several attempts at reforming charities before that which had been opposed by various interest groups including the church, the courts, the companies, and the universities.[9] The power of the commission was strengthened by amendments to the act in 1855, 1860, 1862.[10]

The Charities Act 2006 established its current structure and name.[11]

As of 31 March 2015 the commission had 288 employees and 19 agency staff in post.[1]

Charity tax law

The Finance Act 2010 extended charitable tax benefits (for example Gift Aid) to charities within EU member states, Norway and Iceland, rather than those just inside the UK.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Charity Commission Annual Report 2014−2015 (PDF), Charity Commission for England and Wales, retrieved 8 March 2016
  2. ↑ "Our Governance". www.gov.uk. Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  3. ↑ New Charity Commission boss breaks with 'quango queen' predecessor who was slammed for using organisation for political purposes (Glen Owen, Mail Online, Sunday 2 June 2013)
  4. ↑ "Board of non-executive members of the Commission". Charity Commission. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  5. ↑ Mason, Tania (17 October 2011). "Commission to scrap regulatory compliance cases". Civil Society. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Mason, Tania (20 October 2011). "Atlantic Bridge-style investigations were unlawful, say charity lawyers". Civil Society. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "MP says Charity Commission refusal to grant Plymouth Brethren charitable status is 'suppression of religion'". thirdsector.co.uk.
  8. ↑ "Charity Commission accused of suppressing Christianity". christian.org.uk.
  9. ↑ "Charity Commission 1853-1960". The National Archives.
  10. ↑ Peter R. Elson (May 2010). "The Origin of the Species: Why Charity Regulations in Canada and England Continue to Reflect Their Origins". The International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law. 12 (3).
  11. ↑ "Charity Commission, A Hampton Implementation Review Report". Department for Business Innovation and Skills. March 2010.
  12. ↑ "The charities' guide to the Finance Act 2010". Sift Media. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
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