All charities and community groups are governed by charity law. The Charities Act 2022 was passed in February last year and has amended the previous Charities Act 2011. The amendments have been rolled out gradually. A number of changes came into force in October 2022 and there are forthcoming changes this Spring.
The changes coming into force this Spring:
- Selling, leasing, or otherwise disposing of charity land – this process will be simplified as a wider range of people will be able to advise trustees. Also, the requirements for when a charity sells or leases property to another charity will be made clearer.
- Using permanent endowment (put simply this is property that your charity must keep). New statutory powers will change how charities can spend or borrow against their endowment.
- Charity names – the Charity Commission will be able to direct charities to stop using a working names that are too similar to other charities.
Changes that came into force in October 2022:
- Paying trustees for providing goods or services to the charity – a new statutory power to charities to be able to do this in certain, limited circumstances. This is for goods and services only and the previous guidance from the Charity Commission on trustee expenses and payments still stands.
- Fundraising appeals that do not raise enough or raise too much money – this process has been simplified.
Further information and support:
- You can read more on the Charity Commission’s website here.
- If you are unsure how this applies to your charity, you are welcome to contact Herjeet Randhawa, RVA Advice Service Manager at herjeet.randhawa@rva.org.uk for free, confidential advice.
- RVA runs regular Trustee Training. Our next session is on 9 May. Read more and book here