The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Caledonian Exchange, 19A Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EG.
From State Aid to Subsidy Control
Subsidy control is a relatively new legal framework, having replaced the European Union’s State aid regime following the UK’s departure from the EU. When the 2022 Act came into force on 4 January 2023, a new domestic regime was created. Prior to that, many funding arrangements were put in place under two different transitional regimes: while the UK was still in the EU, many funding arrangements continued to be established under State aid schemes, and then between 1 January 2021 and 3 January 2023 new funding arrangements were subject to the requirements in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
These “legacy” schemes and subsidies continued after 4 January 2023 in line with their own terms (and could be extended and modified if their terms allowed for this) and were not subject to the 2022 Act. This means that many organisations may not yet have noticed much regulatory change. As those legacy arrangements begin to expire, more voluntary organisations are now encountering subsidy control.