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Key recommendations for charities from Calman Commission

The Commission on Scottish Devolution chaired by Sir Kenneth Calman published its final report Serving Scotland Better: Scotland and the United Kingdom in the 21st Century on 15th June.  Turcan Connell welcomes two key recommendations contained in the report which are of particular relevance to Scottish charities and to cross-border charities operating in Scotland.

The Commission recommends that there should be a single UK-wide definition of “charity” and “charitable purposes”.  The Commission also recommends that a charity which operates in different parts of the UK should be subject to the reporting and accounting requirements of one regulator only – that is, it should be able to carry out activities in other parts of the UK without the need for separate registration and consequent dual regulation.

We find these recommendations both sensible and pragmatic.  The first would provide the certainty that all bodies recognised as charities in any part of the UK will qualify for UK tax relief.  The second would reduce the burden of regulatory requirements imposed upon charities under the present system of dual regulation north and south of the border.  Since Northern Ireland’s own body of charity law is also currently evolving, the very real potential for triple regulation of UK-wide charities could, for example, be avoided.

However, we would also stress that it is also important to ensure, as the Calman Commission  does suggest, that there should be appropriate mechanisms for co-operation between regulators to detect and deal with any misbehaviour.

We feel that these changes are welcome would address practical issues of dual regulation, while still protecting the public and the taxpayer from the type of practice which gave charities a bad name in the early 2000s.

For further advice on cross-border issues and the impact of the Calman Commission’s Report, contact our dedicated Charities Legal Team at charities@turcanconnell.com, or call 0131 228 8111.