The Charity Commission has pledged to focus on improving its response rates as it reports increased caseloads for the past year.
In the year to March 2026, the commission opened and closed more cases than the previous year but launched fewer statutory inquiries, reserved for its most serious level of engagement.
Some 4,996 cases were concluded by the charity regulator for England and Wales 2025-26, up 14% from the year before, amid an “increased number of complaints” about charities.
Overall, the commission used its legal powers 13,669 times in 2025-26, an increase of more than 500 from 2024-25.
This included using its inquiry powers 1,608 times, almost double the year before, with 44 official warnings and 25 trustee disqualifications issued.
There was also a record year of applications to register charities, with 11,700 assessed and 4,650 successful.
“These increases obviously required us, as many charities have had to do, to adapt, often meaning our timeliness and response rates has not been where we want them to be,” the regulator said.
“This will remain a key challenge in the months ahead as we work to address capacity and demand pressures.”
The commission reported that its productivity improved with 87 cases closed per full-time equivalent staff member, compared to 70 in 2024-25 and 55 the year prior.
However, it opened (69) and shut (68) fewer statutory inquiries in 2025-26 than the year before, when 112 were opened and 77 closed.
It also assessed 3,072 serious incident reports, 50 fewer than the year before.
Meanwhile, whistleblowing complaints increased as the regulator received 594 in 2025-26, a rise from 547 the previous year.
Local authority defaults halve
In November 2024, some 404 charities with councils as trustees were in default due to their financial reporting obligations across 130 local authorities.
The following December, this fell to 186 charities in 87 councils – a 54% drop.
Two local authorities still have more than 10 charities in double default and 43 other councils have all their charities in default.
“Further actions are therefore planned, including one-to-one engagement with local authorities that continue to have multiple charities in default, and where appropriate and proportionate, regulatory action will be taken,” the regulator added.
Separately, the commission has asked people who use its services to sign up to a user participation research project.
