Charities monthly round-up June 2022

Welcome to our June newsletter!

The days may be longer but this month’s newsletter is short and sweet! We highlight proposed changes to the Annual Return process, a useful resources hub from the Charity Finance Group and provide an update on a case continuing through the courts on the issue of mandatory rates relief for charities. There is also a link to the relevant information on the second round of the Government’s £150 million Community Ownership Fund.

Changes to the Charity Commission Annual Return
The Commission is proposing some changes to the Annual Return and has launched a consultation on the same. You can find the consultation here.

The changes would apply to charities with an annual income of more than £10,000.

If the changes come into force, the Annual Return will have more questions, including ones surrounding a charities’ income, governance risks, staff costs, and regions that the charity operates in. There would also be questions about whether the charity works with adults or children, and whether it has a trading subsidiary that has been dissolved during the year.

The purpose of this, so says the Commission, is to gather more information about charities to improve knowledge and regulation of the sector. However, the Commission has said they don’t want to increase the administrative burden on charities submitting the return, so whilst there will be more questions, the intention is for the form to take the same amount of time to populate.

The consultation will end on 1 September 2022 and any changes would come into force in January 2023.

Charity Finance Group knowledge hub
The CFG has created a ‘knowledge hub’ which brings together interesting news stories and advertises training, events and knowledge-sharing opportunities. You can check out the website here.

Community Ownership Fund now open
The £150 million Community Ownership Fund has now opened for its second round. The aim of the fund is to ensure that communities across the UK can support and continue benefiting from the local facilities, community assets and amenities most important to local communities. Applicants can apply for funding for pubs, music venues, sports facilities or to preserve historic buildings.

You can find more information or apply here.

Ongoing court case about mandatory relief for charities from non-domestic rates
In 2021 the Court of Appeal considered the question of whether a charity (in this case Nuffield Health) must show that its premises are being used for the public benefit (in the context of charity law) if the premises are to qualify for mandatory charitable relief from non-domestic rates. The Court of Appeal originally decided that the question of public benefit does not need to be separately assessed for each individual site where the charity carries out its activities. However, the local authority (London Borough of Merton) has now successfully applied to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal against this decision.

The full Court of Appeal judgment can be found here. For further information about mandatory relief for charities, please click here.

Commission Regulatory Action
The Commission recently exercised its power to appoint interim managers to the Kantor Foundation and Kantor Charitable Foundation, following the opening of statutory inquiries into both in April 2022.

The inquiries were opened following the sanctioning of Dr. Kantor under the UK’s Russia sanctions regime, and the Commission’s position that those who are subject to the UK’s financial sanctions cannot discharge their duties as a trustee/person with significant control over a trustee.  

The new interim managers will be able to manage the assets of the charity to the exclusion of the previous corporate trustee (itself controlled by sanctioned individuals) and is a reminder of the powers of the Commission to act, often at speed, in order to protect charitable assets.

For more information

For more information or advice on the topics raised within this month’s newsletter, please contact Sarah Tomlinson or your usual ACS representative.

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