The Fundraising Regulator, which oversees charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has developed a self-reporting tool so that charities can inform the regulator of any known or potential breach of the Code of Fundraising Practice where in poses an actual or potential risk to the public, the charity sector or public confidence in fundraising. There is no f ...

Those charities which take the form of limited companies may be interested to know that the government has now published a white paper setting out their position on reforming Companies House ahead of introducing legislation into Parliament, following a consultation process that took place over the winter of 2019/20. The key changes that are being proposed include: Expansion ...

Updated 23 June 2022 Following the economic disruption caused by Coronavirus (COVID19) over the past few years and now as we start to return to a new normality, we want to reassure you we have put in place sensible measures to ensure that Ward Williams is well prepared and well positioned to continue to provide our services. Remote working & returning to the workplace Ma ...

In our last edition we reported on the reforms set out in the Charities Bill 2021. This legislation has now completed its parliamentary journey, becoming the Charities Act 2022. To recap, this new legislation (which only applies to England and Wales) implements a number of recommendations from the Law Commission’s 2017 Technical Issues in Charity Law Report which seek to make ...

The government conducted a review of (SME) R&D and RDEC relief following the 2021 Spring budget. The consultation explored the nature of private-sector R&D investment in the UK, how that is supported or otherwise impacted by the R&D relief schemes, how well they operated and how the targeting of reliefs worked to be most beneficial for the UK economy. At the 2021 ...

CCEW has published summary guidance on safeguarding for charities and trustees, setting out their responsibilities to keep everyone who comes into contact with the charity safe from harm. It includes links to more detailed guidance in areas such as identifying and managing risks, having robust safeguarding policies and handling incidents or allegations of abuse. The more detai ...

We all learn from our mistakes, but perhaps it’s better if we can learn from the mistakes of others without having to experience them ourselves first hand. Two major frauds involving charities have been in the news recently. The first involved the British Society of Echocardiography, where the charity’s finance officer stole over £200,000 of the charity’s funds to support his ...

In February CCEW published its long-awaited report into Kids Company, one of the highest profile charity collapses of recent years that attracted considerable publicity, in part due to the considerable amount of funding it had received from central and local government sources. Publication of the report was delayed due to ongoing legal action seeking to disqualify the former tr ...

HMRC has started to recover overpayments of Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grants. From April, HMRC is writing to taxpayers whose entitlement to the fourth or the fifth SEISS grant has reduced by more than £100 to ask them to repay amounts that were overpaid. Entitlement to the fourth and fifth SEISS grants can be affected by an amendment to a tax return. HMRC' ...

No one could fail to be moved by events in Ukraine, and many trustees will be considering if the war impacts on their charity in any way and whether there is anything they can or should be doing in response. Both CCEW and OSCR have now published guidance for charity trustees on the key areas that they should be considering in response to the war, including: How best to supp ...