Following the passing of legislation by the Scottish Parliament – ‘The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023’ – the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) will be introducing changes to how Scottish charities will be regulated. This legislation aims to modify certain aspects of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and update them.

Certain changes will take effect from 1 April 2024, with full implementation of the regulations taking place in phases between 2024 and 2025. Changes include:

Increased inquiry powers:
Part of OSCR’s role is to conduct inquiries into a charity when we identify that there is possible misconduct or a risk to assets. From 1 April 2024, we have a number of new powers to help us work more effectively to protect charities and their assets.
Removing charities that fail to submit accounts and to respond to OSCR:
The 2023 Act gives OSCR the power to remove charities from the Scottish Charity Register that have failed to submit accounts on time and failed to engage with OSCR about putting this breach of trustee duties right. Every year, charities must submit accounts to OSCR within 9 months of their financial year end, and if they fail to do this OSCR, members of the public and potential beneficiaries and donors cannot be assured that those charities are effectively using charity resources for charitable purposes.
Review of Registration Requirements:
From now, OSCR must refuse an application to be registered as a charity from organisations that have no or a negligible connection with Scotland. To decide on this, we will need to look at factors including whether the organisation has a principal office in Scotland, occupies premises or carries out activities here.

The remaining parts of the 2023 Act are planned to come into force in Summer 2025. This should give charities and OSCR the time needed to prepare for these changes.

For further information, please visit the OSCR website.