The Scottish charity regulator has announced a full revision of its guidance for Scottish voluntary organisations and is calling for feedback on its draft publication. 

The regulator’s paper on Meeting the Charity Test was last updated in 2008. Since then it has awarded charity status to nearly 10,000 organisations and handled almost 2,000 complaints and status reviews.

Martin Tyson, head of registration for OSCR said he hopes the new guidance will draw on the regulator’s previous seven years of experience.

“While the underlying principles of the guidance haven’t changed, what we’ve tried to do is set out in a more straightforward way what applicants must think about, so that they meet the charity test,” he said. “Our draft updated guidance focuses more clearly on what’s expected of charities and highlights some of the common issues that we have identified with applications for charity status."

Tyson said the new guidance will be online-based for better access and include more case studies so that charities can see how the test works in practice. 

"We’ve designed it as a web-based publication that allows the reader to get hold of the information they need, quickly and easily," said Tyson. 

OSCR said it hopes the guidance will be a useful tool for existing trustees who "need to make sure that they continue to meet the test".

The draft consultation will run from now until 26 May 2015, with the final guidance due for publication in the Summer.