The Charities Bill

The Charities Bill announced in the Queen's Speech on 11th May 2021 proposes several changes to charity law.

These changes have been proposed to address a range of issues in charity law that hamper charities day to day, by implementing the majority of the recommendations in the Law Commission’s 2017 report: Technical Issues in Charity Law, according to briefing notes published alongside the speech.

The main elements of the Bill are:

• Charities will have more flexibility when obtaining advice when they sell land, removing some of the administrative requirements and burdens.
• The rules around permanent endowments will be relaxed, increasing the flexibility for charities to make use of these funds. This will also include the ability for a charity to borrow up to £25,000 of the value of their permanent endowment without the Commission’s approval.
• The rules around related party transactions will be relaxed, allowing Trustees to be paid for goods provided to a charity, even if not expressly stated in the charity’s governing document. This will allow charities to make use of their Trustees when it is in the best interests of the charity. Examples could be when purchasing from a Trustee gives better value for money than another third party.
• Where fundraising appeals fail to raise sufficient funds in line with original appeal, donations below £120 will be available to spend on similar charitable purposes without seeking the donor’s permission.
• Changing the law to help charities amend their governing documents more easily, with Charity Commission or Privy Council oversight where appropriate.https://www.bishopfleming.co.uk/our-people/ben-thorne

If you have any questions or require further information on the Charities Bill, please contact Ben Thorne.

Further information

For further guidance and information on charities, check out our Not for Profit Knowledge Hub.