Restructuring of the varied collection of tribunals set up by the government will see the new Charity Tribunal (hearing appeals against Charity Commission decisions) become part of the first-tier General Regulatory Chamber, alongside the likes of the Immigration Services Tribunal and the Consumer Credit Appeals Tribunal, reports Plaza Publishing News Alert.

The changes were outlined in a speech to the Charity Law Association by Charity Tribunal president Alison McKenna, who also said that the Tribunals Service aims for 75 per cent of cases to be completed and the judgement delivered within 30 weeks. “The Charity Tribunal has been resourced on the basis that we will have 50 cases a year, so unless we are deluged with cases we should be working within that target.”

See http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=1994.

A specialist panel of lawyers is being set up within the Bar Pro Bono Unit (http://www.barprobono.org.uk) to ensure that every appellant to the Charity Tribunal has the chance of legal representation. With charity law being quite specialised, there is a need to expand and formalise arrangements with specialist lawyers.

See Third Sector news item for more, http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/817594/ (registration required).

The Charity Commission has issued draft guidance on how the requirements of charity law and NHS legislation apply to NHS charities (in England and Wales) and sets out the policies and practices adopted by the Commission. They emphasise that this is essentially a consolidation of guidance and principles already issued.

Responses by 9th September - http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/enhancingcharities/nhsintro.asp.

Guidance for trustees on reporting serious incidents has been revised by the Charity Commission.

It contains important information on when and how to report serious incidents within a charity and the legal requirements placed upon trustees, and also clarifies what the Commission considers to be serious or significant.

Introduction at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/investigations/rsi.asp, the guidance (pdf, 253KB) at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/Library/investigations/pdfs/rsinotes.pdf.

The Charity Commission has updated its guidance ‘Trustee expenses and payments’ (CC11, at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc11.asp), in light of the Charities Act 2006 changes which allow charity trustees to be paid for providing goods and services.

It gives answers on such questions as
* when trustees can be paid for supplying goods and services;
* what to do about accountability and management of conflicts of interest;
* when it might be appropriate to pay a trustee for their trusteeship; and
* what does and does not count as reasonable expenses.

The Northern Ireland Assembly debated proposed amendments to the Charities Bill on 3rd June - the official record is at http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports2007/080603.htm#7.

Third Sector reports some of the main changes, such as lowering the length of time a religious charity has to be established before it can qualify for designated status - http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/815328/ (registration required). The legislation should go through the rest of its stages this summer.

For the legislation as originally published and amended, and the Committee for Social Development’s report on it, see http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/legislation/primary/2007/nia9_07.htm.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator warns, in its latest Reporter e-newsletter, that submitted annual accounts which do not meet the required standard will, for accounting periods ending 31st March 2008 and later, be returned to the charity. The charity will then have to make the necessary changes to the accounts and re-submit them within 60 days.

Previously OSCR had taken a pragmatic approach and written to the charity with a qualified pass letter, highlighting the deficiencies requiring compliance in the following year. http://www.oscr.org.uk/AnnualReturn.stm.

The Charity Commission’s online service is now accepting Annual Returns / Updates for financial years ending in 2008 (assuming that the period has completed, of course).

You need to have registered for a password first - http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/common/Onlineservices.asp.

A list of sixty key public sector appointments which will be subject to pre-appointment hearings by Parliamentary select committees has been published by the government. This is in response to the ‘First Special Report’ from the House of Commons Liaisons Committee and is available at Annex A of that document, http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmliaisn/594/59405.htm.

The chair of the Charity Commission is included on the list.

Cabinet Office news item, or see Third Sector, http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/813561/ (registration required).

As usual there is a burst of volunteer-related news and information during Volunteers’ Week (http://www.volunteersweek.org.uk, to 7th June). Also see Consult section.

Volunteering for all — In Northern Ireland, ‘Volunteer - Play Your Part’ was launched by the Social Development Minister. The publication, which will also be available in Polish, Portuguese, Lithuanian, Cantonese and Urdu, is a simple guide to getting involved. It highlights that volunteering is open to everyone and aims to give that final piece of encouragement to those who may have considered volunteering before but never took the plunge. See http://www.volunteering-ni.org or download (pdf, 819KB) from http://www.volunteering-ni.org/pdf/Volunteer_Play_Your_Part.pdf. (But can I recommend a different design process next time?)

Record checks for volunteers — The Cabinet Office has published guidance which aims to clarify when organisations do and don’t need to carry out Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks on volunteers. As Third Sector reports, a minority of charities that run unnecessary blanket checks could end up having to pay for these (which normally have no charge) if subject to a spot check. News release includes link to the guidance, http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/news/news_stories/080604_crb.aspx, or go direct to pdf, 197KB.

Skye and Lochalsh Community Toolkit web site has an updated version of the Model Memorandum and Articles of Association for a ‘community right to buy’ body, developed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Download available from http://www.slcvo.org.uk/ctoolkit?PageName=organisational/your-constitution.html.

A group of about 15 people from all major faiths, as well as experts on faith-related matters, is to act as “critical friends” for the Charity Commission’s Faith and Social Cohesion Unit, which was set up in November. It will help identify potential multi-faith activity for the unit.

Plaza Publishing news item at http://www.charitygovernance.co.uk/home/preview.php?id=306