Evidence library

This document describes the outcomes of the consultation undertaken by the Scottish Executive on the proposals of the McFadden Commission on the reform of Scottish charity law. This consultation is effectively the third stage in a developed sequence. The first stage was the extensive research conducted by the Dundee Charity Law Research Unit, which informed the initial deliberations of the McFadden Commission. There were also specialised elements of research undertaken for two further reports. One, on public charity collections, conducted interviews with store managers, police officers, local authority licensing officers and charity fund raising managers. The other, on public trusts and educational endowments, sought responses from 44 trusts, as well as key actors in local authorities and the legal profession. The second stage was the consultation conducted by the Commission during its deliberations, a process detailed in Annexe B of their report. There were 51 responses to this consultation from umbrella organisations and 935 responses to the questionnaire. A supplementary process of consultation was undertaken by the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations.The Commission's report identified a series of aspects of charity law reform, including the definition of charity, the structure of charitable organisations, the role of government agencies, regulation, provision of support and the protection of the public. It made 114 recommendations. The classification of responses in this report is based on the order of recommendations made, but it has been modified to bring related material together.