The Irish Government has approved the publication of a Charities Bill which covers much the same ground as recent charities legislation in Britain, although starting from an almost complete lack of charity regulation in the State. There will be a new independent Charities Regulatory Authority (with a Charity Appeals Tribunal), a Register of Charities and updating of the law relating to fundraising. However, a new legal structure for charitable organisations, the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), which had been recommended, has been left out so as not “to delay the regulation of the sector pending consideration of separate, longer-term question”.

An outline of the ‘Principal Features of the Charities Bill 2007′ is available in Word format, 350kb, from http://www.pobail.ie/en/CharitiesRegulation/CharitiesBill2007/; press release (Word format, 28kb) at http://www.pobail.ie/en/CharitiesRegulation/PressReleases/file,8214,en.doc.

Note: full Bill not yet available.

Media and communications regulator Ofcom has published a consultation on the Future of Radio. It focuses on three main areas: the regulation of content and ownership in commercial radio, the regulation of community radio and the migration of listening from analogue to digital platforms. Runs to 29th June. See http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/futureradio/.

The Office of the Third Sector has launched a consultation on the £30 million Community Assets Fund, which will be managed by the Big Lottery Fund to facilitate the transfer of management or ownership of assets from local authorities in England to the third sector, by offering help with refurbishment.

Download the consultation document, pdf format 305kb, at http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/documents/catf/catf.pdf - deadline 23rd June. You could also feed into NCVO’s response via http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/policy/index.asp?id=2896#comm_assets.

The Charity Commission has issued a reminder that there’s still time to respond to the consultation reviewing its policy on charities with vulnerable beneficiaries carrying out Criminal Records Bureau checks on their trustees.

Closing date 11th May - see http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/enhancingcharities/crbindex.asp.

From 30th April, it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion or belief in the supply of goods, facilities, services, education and premises. There are exceptions for faith-based charities, schools and other organisations.

See Sandy Adirondack’s legal update at http://www.sandy-a.co.uk/employment.htm#religionservices.

Although we mentioned some time ago the regulation changes for maternity leave where the expected week of childbirth started on or after 1st April 2007, we haven’t covered the details. See Sandy Adirondack’s legal update at http://www.sandy-a.co.uk/employment.htm#maternity.

There are also changes on adoption leave where placements were expected to take place on or after 1st April - http://www.sandy-a.co.uk/employment.htm#adoption.

Employment advisory body Acas has updated its ‘Smoking at work’ booklet for the introduction of smoking bans across Britain. Find it online at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=696. There’s also a ‘Q and A’, Breaking the habit, covering some of the likely awkward questions from staff, at http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1262.

Employing organisations in England that are registered with Companies House should have received a guidance pack by post this month (April). See the official smoking ban site.

(N Ireland’s ban comes in today, 30th April.)

A new Volunteer Driver’s Handbook from Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) sets out to ensure the safety of the drivers and their passengers, and highlights the driver’s duties and legal responsibilities.

Voluntary organisations can request complimentary printed copies by email: dvernon@rospa.com, or download in pdf format, 269kb, from http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/info/volunteer_drivers.pdf.

People Count Voluntary Sector is a human resource benchmarking tool which allows the comparison of HR processes with those in other voluntary and community organisations. It is endorsed by a  number of sector bodies, although there is a charge to participate and get the reports.

There’s an information session on 3rd May in London. See http://www.agendaconsulting.co.uk/people_count.php.

People in Northern Ireland with experience in the voluntary and community sector are getting an opportunity to turn this into university credits leading to an honours degree in Community Development. The University of Ulster is running an intensive Accreditation for Prior Experiential Learning week-long course in May, and successful completion plus a guided submission of a portfolio allows a student to seek direct access to the second year.

For further information and application form, contact Lorraine Majury, Programme Administrator, email: l.majury@ulster.ac.uk. Degree course information at http://prospectus.ulster.ac.uk/course/?id=2435. (Source: NICVA eNews)

The Association of Volunteer Managers, an association run by volunteer managers for volunteer managers in England and launching on 5th June, is looking for Peer Group Coordinators for areas around the country. They would enable volunteer managers to meet up in their area and facilitate the sharing of skills and experience.

Contact Sean Cobley, email: seanc@breakthrough.org.uk for more information. (From UKVPM list)

Proposals from the Accounting Standards Board that charities should look at assessing the value of ‘heritage assets’ such as buildings, lands and paintings are being challenged.

Third Sector quotes the National Trust’s finance director as saying that the proposals are unworkable (http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/channels/Finance/Article/649376/), while the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland says that they could prove costly and burdensome (http://www.icas.org.uk/pressoffice/v4_newsArticleView.asp?article=5024).

The ASB consultation closed last week.