Scottish charity regulator OSCR is considering publishing some charity accounts on its online Register of Charities but will consult the sector before making any changes, it announced today.

OSCR does not currently populate its Register with the accounts of the charities it regulates, as the Charity Commission does in England and Wales. Instead it records just the income and expenditure of each charity and whether it filed it annual return on time.

Nonetheless, since OSCR began monitoring charities’ accounts in 2006, the quality of the documents submitted has markedly improved, from 28 per cent being acceptable then to around 80 per cent today.

This improvement in standards has prompted the regulator to re-examine the way it monitors accounts, in a bid to be more “targeted, proportionate and proactive”. 

In the longer term, this review may result in changes such as the publication of some accounts on the online Register, though OSCR could not say at this stage how such charities would be selected for publication. A spokesman said it would consult widely before pressing ahead with such a move.

In the short-term, instead of asking those charities that submit deficient accounts to correct and resubmit them, the regulator will usually just notify them of the error or inadequacy and ask them to ensure it is fixed for the following year.  

Only where the deficiency means OSCR cannot identify the correct figures to accurately populate the Register, will the charity be asked to resubmit the updated accounts.