Report backs Charities Bill but seeks reassurance
The bill strengthening the regulation of charities in Scotland has been welcomed by Holyrood’s Social Justice & Social Security Committee – but with a plea for reassurance for charitable organisations unsure about how the legislation will work in practice.
In its stage 1 report, in which it supports the general principles of the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill, the committee records a general agreement that the bill would help to improve transparency and accountability in the charity sector, as well as strengthening the regulator, OSCR’s current powers and achieving greater consistency with other UK jurisdictions.
It adds, however, that “it is clear charities are more apprehensive about how the provisions will work in practice, than those professionally associated with the sector. It is therefore essential OSCR works with the sector to allay charities’ concerns through the support and guidance it provides”.
Among other measures the bill provides for more information about charity trustees to be given to OSCR, some of it for publication; expands the grounds for disqualification from acting as a charity trustee; provides for accounts to be publicly available on the register of charities as well as allowing for the possible removal of charities which fail to submit accounts; enables a publicly accessible record of charity mergers; refines the process in relation to inquiries into a charity; and requires charities to have a connection to Scotland which makes their regulation by OSCR appropriate.
Concerns raised include those relating to the issuing of positive directions by OSCR. The report asks that guidance is provided to the sector on how this will be implemented. Similarly, the committee felt clarity was needed regarding how OSCR intends to recruit interim trustees where these are needed. Volunteer Scotland told the committee that in the "current climate... trustees are a bit like gold dust". The report also asks OSCR how disputes about appointments of such trustees could be resolved.
During evidence, Rami Okasha from CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland), told the committee that more information is needed about how the provisions of the bill will be implemented: “OSCR will need to provide detailed guidance in quite a number of areas about how it intends to use those powers through the publication of its regulatory policies so that there is transparency and understanding between the regulator and charities about how the powers will work in practice”.
Committee convener Collette Stevenson MSP commented: “The committee’s scrutiny has shown that this legislation will help support the regulation of charities in Scotland and that the sector and wider public will benefit from increased transparency and accountability.
“We would like to hear more from the regulator about its plans to communicate the changes introduced by the bill. Too often the committee heard that organisations were unsure about how the changes the bill makes would impact them.”