The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has released guidance on the EU referendum which is more similar to that of OSCR, the Scottish charity regulator, than that of the Commission in England and Wales.
Released ahead of June’s referendum, the guidance states that charities must abide by the law when undertaking political activity in the run up to the EU referendum, or they could be putting their reputation at risk.
Last week the Charity Commission for England and Wales was forced to release amended guidance after concerns were raised over its tone.
However its guidance remains more proscriptive than that of the CCNI and OSCR, despite being based on the same law.
The CCNI guidance says that trustees must carefully consider how campaigning on the EU referendum would advance their charitable purposes and ensure they comply with charity and electoral law.
The guidance says that according to charity law, a charity can only carry out political activity or campaigning provided that the activity is solely in support of its charitable purposes. It says that this is provided the activity is not prohibited in its governing document, it remains independent and does not align itself with a particular political party or politician.
It also must ensure that it is in the charity’s best interests and the trustees are acting with due care.
The Commission has said that a charity must not engage in activity that is not in support of its charitable purposes, campaign or engage in the referendum process if its governing document says it may not, and align itself with a particular political party or politician.
Chief Charity Commissioner Tom McGrath, said: “With the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU taking place on 23 June 2016, some charities may be considering how they can use the opportunity to campaign and advocate on behalf of their beneficiaries.
“While campaigning can be a legitimate way for a charity to work to achieve its charitable purposes, it’s important to be aware of the restrictions around what a charity can and cannot do.
“Our new guidance is a useful, practical guide aimed at helping charity trustees to understand these restrictions and to make the right decisions for their charity.
“A charity’s reputation is one of their key assets – my advice to trustees is to ensure you are not putting that reputation at risk by acting without an awareness of the law.”
