Meeting of the Parliament 28 June 2023
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in the debate and I want to reflect on some points, drawing on my role as convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. I want to thank my colleagues on the committee and the clerks for their support and effort in scrutinising the bill, as well as the organisations that have engaged with us and provided evidence to inform the committee’s scrutiny.
The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill is long awaited. There have been calls from charities for reform, as well as calls from OSCR. Indeed, the bill is based on practical proposals put forward by OSCR, based on its experience as regulator. The bill has also been shaped by a lot of valuable input that had been provided by other stakeholders.
The bill represents a significant step forward in enhancing transparency, accountability and good governance in charitable organisations. Charities have said that they want the changes to help strengthen and update existing charity law. Current laws are now almost 20 years old, and the charity landscape has changed significantly in the intervening years since those laws were introduced, so it is right that the bill has been brought forward to update the current system of charity regulation in Scotland.
The Scottish Government’s focus is to ensure the best possible conditions for the charity sector to thrive and support communities, and I appreciate that the Scottish Government intends to bring forward further reform for charities, which will definitely be a very positive step for the third sector.
Meanwhile, the bill will improve OSCR’s powers and allow it to publish annual accounts for every charity, include the names of all charity trustees in the Scottish charity register, remove charities that fail to provide accounts and do not respond to its communications, and create a publicly searchable record of removed charity trustees. The bill will also give OSCR new powers to issue positive directions to a charity to take action, such as managing a conflict of interest, where a risk has been identified by the regulator.
As I mentioned in my speech during the stage 1 debate, CHAS put it well, saying:
“charities are in a privileged position with regard to handling donations from the public … those are things in relation to which public accountability is important.”
Therefore, the Scottish Government’s proposed changes are important in order to maintain public trust and confidence in this important sector and its regulator in the years ahead.
If the bill is passed today, there must be an awareness-raising campaign in due course to ensure that forthcoming changes are widely communicated to charities and that there is no onus on charities in terms of the additional administration changes.
For charities to continue to add value, we must ensure that they are properly regulated and supported. The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill is generally regulatory in nature as opposed to doing anything more fundamental about charities, and it is right that we update the elements of current legislation that the bill deals with. I support the bill and hope that other members will back it tonight.