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.
New charity law in Scotland
New regulation for charities is coming in Scotland. Find out what the changes are, what they mean for you, and how SCVO have been involved in influencing.
The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 is a new piece of legislation that builds on existing charity law in Scotland. Parts of the new Act came into force in April 2024, and parts of the Act aren't in force yet. It's an update of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.
We'll talk you through how to find out more, and describe some of the changes that are have already taken place and are likely to in the future, and what they might mean for your organisation. We'll also outline how SCVO has been involved in influencing this new law, and what we've asked for.
OSCR has published a timetable for when the changes will come into place - we will keep these pages up to date as more information emerges.
SCVO recently responded to the Scottish Government's consultation on the review of charity regulation. We highlighted current struggles in the sector, and called on government to review and modernise out-of-date charity law.
You can read our full response for more information.
What are the main changes?
Here's an outline of what the 2023 Act changes or adds, including new powers it will give to the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR):
The names of any individuals disqualified as trustees by the Court of Session are held on a searchable public record. This was launched on 1st October 2024 and can be found here: OSCR | Record of Removed Persons
Currently, people are automatically disqualified from being a charity trustee if they:
- have an unspent conviction for an offence involving dishonesty or an offence under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005
- are an undischarged bankrupt or have a Protected Trust Deed
- have been removed under either Scottish or English Law or the courts from being a charity trustee.Â
This list of offences for automatic disqualification will be extended, to include offences such as bribery, acts of terrorism, money laundering and perjury, and anyone on the sexual offences register.
In addition these criteria for disqualification, which have previously only applied to trustees, will be extended to include staff or volunteers who undertake a senior management function for a charity.Â
This change will come into effect in in 2025.
Charities on the Scottish Charity Register must be able to demonstrate a connection to Scotland when conducting their activities.
OSCR will not be required to register a charity that has no connection with Scotland (or only a negligible connection).
OSCR will be able to refuse to register a charity if it can’t demonstrate a link with Scotland. If an existing Scottish charity is no longer able to demonstrate such a link with Scotland, OSCR can instruct it to take action to establish such a link. If the charity fails to do so, OSCR can remove the charity from the Scottish Charity Register.
This power came into effect on 1st April 2024.
As of October 1st 2024, OSCR have contacted a small number of charities to clarify their connection to Scotland.
OSCR will have the power to appoint interim trustees.
OSCR already have the power to appoint interim trustees but at the request of the charity, they will now be able to appoint interim trustees when it is not requested by the charity.
This power came into effect on 1st April 2024.
OSCR will have the power to conduct inquiries into former charities and their trustees. OSCR can currently only conduct inquiries into existing charities. This means that if concerns are raised about charities that no longer exist (or bodies that still exist, but are no longer charities), OSCR cannot currently investigate.
OSCR can make positive directions to charities following their work into inquiries.
At the moment, OSCR can only direct a charity not to something (a negative direction), new law will allow OSCR to tell a charity that they have to do something (a positive direction).
This power came into effect on 1st April 2024.
OSCR will publish names of all charity trustees on the Scottish Charity Register.
If a charity has any concerns about the publication of names of trustees, the charity can apply to OSCR for a name (or names) to be withheld from the Register. This might be necessary to protect the safety or security of particular individuals or property.
OSCR will collect and hold details of all trustees on an internal database. This would include names, addresses and contact information. This is for internal use by OSCR only and will not be included on the public Register.
This is likely to come into effect in mid-2025.
OSCR will have a duty to publish accounts for all charities on the Scottish Charity Register, which is publicly available.
All charities are currently required to submit accounts to OSCR each year but OSCR only publishes the accounts for charities with annual income of over £25,000 or those which are Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs). This will change so that accounts will be available for all charities.
This is likely to come into effect in mid-2025.
OSCR will create a record of charity mergers and, where a merger is recorded, the new charity will be entitled to any legacies bequeathed to charity that has merged with it.
This is likely to come into effect in mid-2025.
There are lots of small amendments to some of the wording in the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 that will have very little effect on any charities at all. Instead of highlighting all of these we’ve just highlighted the main ones below which are likely to cause a change to the way Scottish charities operate. You can read the full list of amendments on the Scottish Parliament website.
- Clarifying OSCR's powers to remove charities from the Register where it has information that the charity no longer exists.
- OSCR will have powers over the use and appropriateness of "working names" for charities, where these are different from the name on the Scottish Charity Register.
- Charities must provide copies of constitutions and/or accounts within 28 days (there is currently no specified time period in the legislation).
- A statutory requirement for charities to complete annual returns and submit these to OSCR. If charities do not submit annual returns, and do not contact OSCR to explain any circumstances, then OSCR will have the power to remove them from the charity register.
- Clarifying the scope of "connected persons" in the context of remuneration of trustees. The changes broaden the definitions to prevent some situations where more than half of trustees might be benefitting indirectly from a charity.
Coming soon
The remaining parts of the Act are currently planned to come into force in summer 2025. This includes:
- a schedule of charity trustees
- publication of trustee names
- the publication of charity annual reports and accounts on the Scottish Charity Register
- a record of charity mergers; and
- updates to the disqualification criteria for charity trustees.
SCVO's policy and influencing work
The 2023 Act, which became legislation last summer, had already been through a four year journey – and SCVO have been influencing and inputting throughout.
We’ve called for engagement with and support for the sector throughout, and we’ve supported Scottish Government to do this. We’ve highlighted the need for the Act to be implement efficiently, with effective communication and guidance from OSCR.
Here are some of our specific responses and projects:
- SCVO responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation, setting out our position on each of the ten proposals put forward.
- SCVO surveyed the voluntary sector on the newly introduced bill in January 2023, before submitting a response to the Social Justice & Social Security Committee’s consultation on the bill in February.
- In March, SCVO gave evidence to the committee on the bill, and the committee’s report on the bill was published in April.
- SCVO briefed MSPs via a Stage 1 briefing in May, with the bill passing through the three stages of the legislative procedure and the final debate occurring at the end of June 2023.
What comes next?
- OSCR will now take the implementation of the Act forward, and SCVO will be on hand to work with the regulator to ensure that this is an efficient process.
- We will continue to highlight the need for effective and accessible communication and guidance around the new legislation for the voluntary sector.
- In terms of the Scottish Government’s commitment to a wider review of charity law, we will continue to champion the need for this to be a comprehensive, thorough, and independent review that engages with the length and breadth of the sector.
- SCVO will continue to work collaboratively with the Scottish Government to ensure that any review is as effective as possible.
Training & events
As the new law is implemented, SCVO will be offering support to help you understand how it affects you. We'll list any upcoming events or training here.
You can also watch the recording our of webinar, with Gillian Harkness McKinlay, Director, Anderson Strathern which discussed new changes to charity law and what it means for voluntary organisations in Scotland.
There are no upcoming events planned. Please check later.
More information and support
We've put together other sources of information we've found useful or interesting. We'll add more resources as we find them. If you want to suggest something for us to add please contact us (details below).
Contact us
Do you have questions that aren't answered here? Is there any information that isn't clear or correct? Or do you want to share how you think the new changes will affect you?
