The Charities Act 2006 is the legal framework for the charitable sector. It is overseen by the Office of the Third Sector which also monitors legislation and changes to existing legislation effecting charities and laws governing public charitable collections.
The Charity Commission enforces the Charities Act 2006, while the Charity Tribunal is an independent body which hears appeals against decisions of the Charity Commission.
Charities are also subject to other laws such as employment law, tax law and data protection laws.
The Court of Appeal has rejected the government’s attempts to overturn a High Court ruling that said the cut to solar tariff payments was illegal.
Bill Gates has pledged a $750m vote of confidence in the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria after it was announced its executive director would step down following the exposure of a "grave abuse of funds" in several countries the fund works in.
Prime Minister David Cameron plans to introduce a new Co-operatives Bill, which will provide new rights for public sector workers to create mutuals.
The implications of Wikimedia's successful registration as a charity
Following Wikimedia UK's registration as a charity last year, Tom Murdoch discusses the implications for the sector.
A tax adviser has been found guilty of setting up a tax avoidance scheme which attempted to exploit the benefits around giving gifts of company shares to charity.
High Court judges are deciding whether to grant the appeal made by the government against last December’s ruling that cuts to its solar subsidy scheme were illegal.
A 69-year-old Lincolnshire man has been sent to prison for two years after being convicted of stealing more than £40,000 from an education charity.
The Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland has won £3.5m from the Lloyds Banking Group after successfully appealing against an earlier court judgment.
Friends of the Earth has criticised the government’s decision to appeal a High Court ruling which found that the cut to solar panel subsidies was illegal.
Outgoing Navca chief executive Kevin Curley has used his first member newsletter of 2012 – and his last as CEO – to urge local councils for voluntary action not to accept further spending cuts as a fait accompli, but to fight them.
The Charity Commission has decided not to appeal against the Upper Tribunal’s decision on its public benefit guidance for schools and other charities that charge fees for their services.
Carrying the can
Rachel Holmes considers whether charities should be worried about vicarious liability for their employees and volunteers.
A report for the Legal Services Consumer Panel has found that small charities have little understanding of the legal issues they face, and warns that funding cuts and greater pressure on their services could see charities facing a wider variety of legal implications.
Nursing Homes Fees Agency, the now defunct subsidiary which triggered HSBC’s record £10.5m fine from the FSA this week for misleading elderly savers, had links to charities including Help the Aged and Counsel and Care.
The Upper Tribunal has ordered the Charity Commission to withdraw its existing guidance on public benefit of fee-charging charities while it writes its new guidance.
The Charity Commission and the Independent Schools Council recently returned to the Upper Tribunal after failing to agree how to amend the Commission’s public benefit guidance in the wake of the Tribunal’s initial judgment on the matter.
Former Charity Commission chief executive Andrew Hind offers his verdict on the recent public benefit Tribunal judgment.
The review of the Charities Act should re-examine the way that Attorney General’s references play out in the sector, according to Charity Tribunal president Alison McKenna.
The Charity Commission is considering a request by Charity Bank to change its governing documents to allow it to distribute profits to its charitable shareholders, a decision that could have wider implications for all charitable companies.
A number of grantmaking trusts fear that the government’s enthusiasm for social investment is just a ruse to allow it to raid charitable endowments and plug gaps in public spending.
The Law Commission has indicated that it plans to examine charity legislation after Lord Hodgson has concluded his review of the Charities Act, and there may even be another draft charities bill produced in 2015.
Amendments proposed by Labour to the Public Services (Social Value) Bill, which include a requirement for direct consultation with the Charity Commission, Acevo, NCVO and others, could provide greater safeguards for not-for-profit involvement in the public service contracting process.
Age UK Hertfordshire is preparing to take Watford Borough Council to the local authorities ombudsman in a bid to protect its reputation after receiving a £500,000 dilapidations bill for two properties it occupied.
The Localism Bill, which has been making its way through Parliament since December last year, received Royal Assent this week, to become the Localism Act.
Stephen Lloyd has been appointed as the expert lawyer to advise Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts on the review of the Charities Act 2006.
The point of law that the Charity Tribunal is clarifying this week in a four-day hearing on benevolent funds, involving at least eight barristers and several more solicitors, is a hypothetical question, counsel for the Attorney General has admitted.
The High Court in London has closed down three companies and launched a further investigation into staff for their involvement in a charity collection scam which claimed to raise money for local air ambulances.
A cohort of benevolent funds will appear before the Upper Tribunal this week to argue that they provide services to a sufficiently wide range of people to pass the public benefit test.
Electricité de France has been convicted in a French court of spying on Greenpeace as it campaigned against the UK government’s plans to work with the energy company to expand its nuclear operations.
Deborah Nathan outlines a recent case that highlights the importance of following a fair procedure when a pay cut is proposed.
