Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)

The first of the changes to charity law contained in the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 came into effect on 1 April 2024. Some of the changes include: 🔸 Increased inquiry powers for OSCR 🔸 Power to remove charities from the Scottish Charity Register if they do not submit accounts and respond to OSCR 🔸 Requirement for charities to have a connection to Scotland Find out more about what these changes mean for you, and see further measures which will be introduced in the future, on our website 👇 https://buff.ly/3J58YrE

We have published our Annual Report and Accounts for the year 2023-24. The report explains more about the work we have done during the past year, highlights our achievements and progress against our corporate objectives, and shows how we have spent our budget. Some of the key facts and figures for 2023-24 include: ✅ We removed 400 inactive charities from the Scottish Charity Register who failed to submit their accounts to us. ✅ We launched a new online annual return to provide more tailored support and guidance to help charities get it right first time. ✅ We refreshed our inquiry policy and launched a new online form for concerns. The number of concerns received which were not appropriate for OSCR to deal with reduced by 5% compared to the previous year. ✅ 100% of applications from charities to make certain changes (such as changing their name or purposes) were completed within 28 days. Read the full report here 👇 https://buff.ly/3SVB4v3

We recently reviewed the accounts of 60 charities, selected at random to represent the full scope of the Scottish charity sector, and have found four key areas where charities can improve their annual reports and accounts: 📣 Trustees' Annual Report 📊 Comparative information 💰 Reserves policy 📝 Governing documents Read our "Lessons learned from reviewing charity accounts" report for more information and tips on how to improve in these areas 👇 https://buff.ly/3zwamSU

As part of our regulatory work, we publish a range of notices and alerts to help keep charities, the public and the third sector informed. To make it easier to find these notices, and to improve transparency in our reporting, we have published a new OSCR notices and alerts section on our website. You can also sign up to receive regular email alerts with updates about new notices and reports. 👇 https://buff.ly/3ApaMdU

One of the most important aspects of being a charity trustee is acting with collective responsibility. Allowing someone to dominate the governance of a charity may mean the charity trustees are failing to meet their legal duty to act in the interests of the charity. We’re becoming increasingly concerned about dominant behaviour in charities, so have published a new report on this topic which explains more about the common themes and lessons learned from our recent inquiries. We hope that charities, and those who work with charities, can learn from this report to help improve their governance and avoid potential problems. Read the report 👇 https://buff.ly/4ds7lkZ

When it comes to creating your reserves policy, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach. The policy should be specific to your charity and should take into account how much money you may require to remain resilient and flexible in the future. Read more about charity reserves here 👇 https://buff.ly/3Ne9dDs

From next year, we'll be displaying the accounts for all Scottish charities on the Scottish Charity Register, and now is the time to start considering what this means for your charity. These changes reflect the new Charities Act 2023 and aim to enhance transparency, accountability and public trust in Scotland’s charitable sector. It is the responsibility of the charity trustees to make sure that the information a charity submits annually is correct and on time. You should also be mindful that, from next year, everything in the charity accounts sent to us will be available for anyone to view on the Register for at least five years. Read more about the changes 👇 https://buff.ly/4emnUA6

The latest Sector Overview Report is now available, providing an outline of the charity sector in Scotland over the last three months. Based on the information provided by charities on the Scottish Charity Register, the report details the scale and scope of the charity sector in Scotland. Find out more about the key facts and figures from the new report 👇 https://buff.ly/45YEQc2

We have published an inquiry report into the Great Scottish Tapestry Charitable Trust (SC042623), detailing our decision to remove the charity from the Scottish Charity Register. The charity has fulfilled the purposes it was set up to achieve and is now inactive, but it has not been wound up by the trustees. Following our inquiries, we are satisfied that the charity does not provide, or intend to provide, public benefit and as such they no longer meet the charity test and should be removed from the Register. Read more 👇 https://buff.ly/3XQDo9P

We recently reviewed the accounts of 60 charities, selected at random to represent the full scope of the Scottish charity sector, and have found four key areas where charities can improve their annual reports and accounts: 📣 Trustees' Annual Report 📊 Comparative information 💰 Reserves policy 📝 Governing documents Read our "Lessons learned from reviewing charity accounts" report for more information and tips on how to improve in these areas 👇 https://buff.ly/3zwamSU