Scottish Ministers Test Demand For Review Of Key Aspects Of Charity Law

15th May 2024

The Scottish Government want to hear the views of the public on whether there should be a review of key aspects of charity law and, if so, what you think the purpose and parameters of this should be.

You can contribute to this consultation at the Scottish Government consultation on charity law.

We have launched this consultation because in the past people told us that they think there should be a review of charity regulation. We want to understand if people still feel that way and if so, what you think should be the purpose and parameters for a review.

In 2019 we ran a consultation about proposals the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) had made on improvements to the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. In response to that consultation some people told us that they wanted a wider review of charity regulation.

This consultation asks 10 short questions about a review. It is split into three sections:

The need for a review and the purpose of a review
The parameters for a review - What should it cover and not cover?
Technical areas for review
You do not need to answer every question, but the more information we have, the better we are able to understand what you feel is needed.

You can hear from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice about what's in the consultation and why it is needed in this short video.

echnical areas for review
People have told us that some technical areas of charity regulation would benefit from being changed, raising three specific issues which we have already committed to look at. These are:

reorganisations of statutory and Royal charter charities

incorporation to a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO)

a review of audit thresholds.

These are long standing and complex issues for parts of the charity sector. We already have a lot of detail about them and know that they need to be looked at. We plan to do this in a ‘technical workstream', which can be progressed separately from a review of charity regulation. The consultation asks if there are any other areas you think we should include in this technical strand of work.

Go HERE to contribute to the consultation