The Law Commission’s review of charity law could bring about some very significant changes for the sector, not least the rules governing the Charity Commission’s ability to remove and disqualify trustees, Baroness Barker said this week.

Her comments came in the same week that Charity Commission chief executive Sam Younger requested his organisation be given a general power to disqualify individuals from becoming trustees. 

Barker, vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Complex Needs and Dual Diagnosis, was chairing a Westminster Social Policy Forum event on Monday called ‘The future for charity law and regulation: independence, transparency and fundraising’.

She told the audience that the Law Commission review which launched in March would explore some important questions for charity law, including the grounds on which the regulator can suspend, remove or disqualify trustees.

It will also look at whether the role of Charity Commission should be changed to make it possible for it to force charities to change their applications instead of waiting until they are registered to make changes to their governing documents.

The Law Commission will review charity insolvency law, and the law around mergers and incorporations, Barker went on. “We all know mergers are occurring at a rate we’ve not seen before and its clear the law governing charity mergers is a bit cumbersome.”

And the review will examine the efficacy of the laws governing disposals of charity land, and charity investment.

“What the Law Commission will not do is look at fundamental issues such as the definition of public benefit,” Barker added.

She advised the audience that any changes the Law Commission proposes will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny and therefore unlikely to become law before 2016 and not implemented before 2017.