Charity legislation changes: are you ready?

Having been a charity trustee for several local charities in the past, I know that you often find yourself caught up in the operational side of things: Have we secured enough funding? Is our service meeting the needs of the communities we serve? How do we recruit more volunteers?

Whilst the focus on continuing to provide a service should absolutely be your priority as a charity leader, failing to prepare for relevant legislative change could land you in hot water.

The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 introduces a range of changes to the way that charities are governed, including some with implications for charity trustees. Some of the changes have already come into effect, with more expected in 2025. If you carry out a senior management or governance role for a charity, either as a paid manager or a charity trustee, these changes will affect you. Are you ready?

Changes introduced through the new legislation include the publication of charity annual reports and accounts, and the publication of trustee names. There are also changes to the automatic disqualification criteria for charity trustees, as well as the power for OSCR to remove charitable status if a charity fails to submit accounts on time. In addition, charities now need to have a clear connection to Scotland. This is not an exhaustive list.

The Scottish Charity Regulator, OSCR, is responsible for rolling out these legislative changes and are keen to reach as many charity leaders as possible. As such, we are pleased to be hosting representatives from OSCR to share some of the detail around these important changes on the 21^st January 2025 10.00-11.30am and you can sign up now.