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.

The regulator confirmed its decision just one day before the deadline for an appeal to be lodged – on 22 December 2011.

The Commission has already withdrawn the parts of its guidance deemed unclear or wrong and a working party is in the process of writing entirely new guidance which is expected to be published for consultation with the sector in the spring.

Regarding the decision not to appeal, a spokeswoman for the regulator told civilsociety.co.uk: “The judgment of the Upper Tribunal has clarified the law in certain key aspects, but, as the judgment itself indicates, the decision does not for all parties give the clarity for which they were hoping.

"The Commission will accordingly be seeking to gain further clarity in this respect through evidence it will give to the current review being carried out by Lord Hodgson into the workings of the Charities Act 2006.

"We will also be setting out our understanding of the judgment for comment in our current review of the statutory guidance on fee-charging charities, and in the public consultation which will follow."