Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill
This Bill makes changes to the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. It would:
- give OSCR wider powers to investigate charities and charity trustees
- amend the rules on who can be a charity trustee or a senior office-holder in a charity
- increase the information that OSCR holds about charity trustees
- update the information which needs to be included on the Scottish Charity Register
- create a record of charities that have merged
The Bill was passed on 28 June 2023 and became an Act on 09 August 2023
Contents
Overview
Scottish charities are regulated by an independent body. This body is called the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
OSCR was established under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the 2005 Act). The 2005 Act sets out the powers that OSCR has to regulate charities. This includes publishing and maintaining the Scottish Charity Register.
This Bill makes changes to the 2005 Act. It would:
- give OSCR wider powers to investigate charities and charity trustees
- amend the rules on who can be a charity trustee or a senior office-holder in a charity
- increase the information that OSCR holds about charity trustees
- update the information which needs to be included on the Scottish Charity Register
- create a record of charities that have merged
Read more about what this Bill does in the Explanatory Notes (322KB, pdf) posted 15 November 2022
Why the Bill was created
It has been 17 years since the 2005 Act. In this time changes have been made in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to improve charity legislation. Parts of this Bill update Scottish legislation to keep in line with some of those changes.
OSCR suggested to the Scottish Government that the 2005 Act should be updated. The Scottish Government consulted on these suggested changes in 2019 and 2021.
Read more about why this Bill has been created in the Policy Memorandum (341KB, pdf) posted 15 November 2022