From WCVA Trustee news: solicitors Bates Wells and Braithwaite Summer 2009 Charity and Social Enterprise Law Update contains a variety of articles on such topics as execution of contracts and legacies. Download pdf, 1.66MB.

The Charity Commission is adding more information to its online Register of charities, to make it clearer where a charity has been the subject of an inquiry or regulatory case report, or where an official interim manager is in place. A link to the relevant report will be added and remain for six months.

News item at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/news/prim.asp.

A ‘Big Board Talk’ initiative has been launched by the Charity Commission with the support of the CBI to encourage charity trustees to ask themselves serious questions about how well placed they are to cope during the recession.

The checklist of 15 questions is available at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/ccnews29check.asp and is also included at the end of the latest Charity Commission News (number 29), pdf version 642KB at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Library/tcc/pdfs/ccnews29inc.pdf, or web page at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/tcc/ccnews29.asp.

CC News itself is also worth circulating, although we have covered nearly all of the items here previously.

Arts organisations get the latest practical example/guidance from the Charity Commission to help charities in England and Wales draw up their annual report and accounts incorporating the new requirement to report on public benefit.

News item at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/news/prarts.asp or download (pdf, 1.11MB) via the Public Benefit Reporting page at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publicbenefit/pbreport.asp.

The new Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has held its first Board Meeting, on 15th June in Belfast.

A Commencement Order will be introduced by September 2009 which will bring in to effect provisions on the meaning of charitable purpose and the public benefit test, the Charities register, Charity tribunal and the Commission’s investigatory powers. Public benefit guidance is due for August, with consultation to follow.

From news release reproduced on Community NI.

Included in the recommendations published this week by the Calman Commission, “an independent review of the experience of Scottish devolution since 1998″, are the proposals to create a single UK-wide definition of “charity” and “charitable purposes” and removing the requirement for a charity registered in one part of the UK to have to register separately to operate in another part (recommendations 5.2 and 5.3). The full and summary reports can be found at http://www.commissiononscottishdevolution.org.uk.

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has warned that the proposals introduce new complications rather than deal effectively with the issues identified, while not properly addressing the role of the Inland Revenue and the operation of Gift Aid. See their news item at http://www.scvo.org.uk/scvo/TFNPR/ViewTFNPR.aspx?pr=9263.

UPDATE: We are informed that the May issue of International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law includes an article Cross-Border Issues in the Regulation of Charities Experiences from the UK and Ireland - download it from the website (pdf, 406KB).

Northern Ireland umbrella NICVA reports that, from 1st October, the current Companies Registry NI will be integrated into the UK Companies House and will be known as Companies House Belfast.

A new set of company forms and guidance books will be available for download at http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk from July. See official news story.

Consultation on guidance from the Care Quality Commission outlining what health and adult social care services will have to do to meet new registration standards has started. The new regulator will begin to introduce the registration system covering all health and adult social care services in England from April next year.

Consultation runs to 24th August, see CQC info.

The Charity Commission guidance notes CC28 (previously known as Disposing of charity land) has been revised and republished as ‘Sales, leases, transfers or mortgages: What trustees need to know about disposing of charity land’. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc28.asp.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator is starting its official monitoring of “cross border charities”, with letters going out in late May to such charities with a 31st March year end, along with the required Annual Return and Information Return forms.

OSCR has updated its guidance outlining the key aspects of the regulatory regime in Scotland and its impact on English and Welsh charities that are also entered on the Scottish Charity Register. A copy will be sent to each cross border charity, and the guidance is also linked from http://www.oscr.org.uk/NewsItem.aspx?ID=b5b29833-276e-4305-8ee2-68150b5925f8 (in pdf, 282KB) - there is now a separate guide for ‘Seeking charitable status in Scotland’.

The members of the new Charity Commission for Northern Ireland have been announced.

The Chief Commissioner (chair) is Thomas McGrath, former chair of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, and Patricia Sloan, Director of BBC Children In Need, has been appointed Deputy Chief Commissioner. More details on their background, and four other Commissioners, on official news item. A legally qualified Commissioner is still to be added to the list.

We note that there is still confusion in the announcement on whether it is ‘Charity Commission’ or ‘Charities Commission’ - we believe it is meant to be the former.

According to the draft timetable for implementing the Charities Act and establishing the Charity Commission (see http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/charities_commission.htm), a public benefit consultation should start soon.

The Charity Commission has revised its guidance for trustees on the need for charities (in England and Wales) to report serious incidents. “An incident that has taken place in a charity is considered as serious if it has resulted or could result in a significant loss of funds or a significant risk to the charity’s property, work, beneficiaries or reputation.”

The revised guidance clarifies their approach to issues of serious concern, what they consider to be serious or significant, the actions trustees should take and the legal requirements placed upon them, and what the Commission’s response may be. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/investigations/rsi.asp.