Consultation on charity law

The SNP government has launched a public consultation on charity law, which sets out options to increase transparency, accountability and public trust in charities through a regulatory system in Scotland.

Options in the consultation include: 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 register that are persistently failing to submit annual reports and accounts and may no longer exist; all charities in the register to have and retain a connection in Scotland.

Arran’s MSP Kenneth Gibson said: ‘Charities play a vital role in our society, from supporting individuals and communities, to informing policy at a national level, they are key to us achieving our ambition of creating a fairer and more prosperous country.

‘Almost everyone donates to charity at some point, whether via a regular direct debit, a one-off coffee morning or a bequest.

‘We do this out of kindness and trust that our money goes to those we wish to benefit.

‘It is therefore important to maintain and increase public trust and confidence in the charity sector and ensure legislation supports that.

‘The 2018 Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) survey showed that 88 per cent of people said that seeing evidence of a charity’s achievements and knowing how much of their donation went to the cause would improve their trust in charities.

‘This legislation aims to improve that and I encourage islanders to make their views known.’

The consultation runs until April 1 at: https://consult.gov.scot/local-government-and-communities/ scottish-charity-law/