The Scottish government is seeking to hear from the public in order to develop its position on charity law.
Following on from the charity law consultation in 2019, which sought views on potential improvements to the charity regulation framework in Scotland, the Scottish government has launched a survey to develop and refine the proposals.
The 2019 consultation looked at proposals put forward by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).
The proposals broadly focused on improvements to charity law that would increase transparency and accountability in order to maintain public trust and confidence in charities and OSCR.
These options included:
- An external register of charity trustees
- Publishing annual reports and accounts in full for all charities on the Scottish Charity Register
- Removal of charities from the Scottish Charity Register that are persistently failing to submit annual reports and accounts and may no longer exist
- All charities in the Scottish Charity Register to have and retain a connection in Scotland
After the initial consultation, OSCR said it was “disappointed” by the Scottish government’s consultation outcomes on Scottish charity law reforms.
Maureen Mallon, chief executive at OSCR said: ‘‘We are disappointed that there is no indication that the consultation will result in a reform bill for charity law in this session of parliament.”
Two years later, Scottish government now want to hear from people working in and with the charity sector, members of the public, and anyone with an interest in charity law. The survey is live now and will run until 19 February 2021.
The Scottish government states that the majority of respondents supported the proposals in the 2019 consultation, however, the analysis report made clear that more policy development work and stakeholder engagement was required before we could bring forward any legislative changes.
