The Charities Act 2006 (c. 50) is an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

intended to alter the regulatory framework in which charities operate, partly by amending the

Charities Act 1993 The Charities Act 2011 (c. 25) is a UK act of Parliament. It consolidated the bulk of the Charities Act 2006, outstanding provisions of the Charities Act 1993, and various other enactments. Repeals Legislation repealed in its entirety by t ...

. The act was mostly superseded by the

Charities Act 2011 The Charities Act 2011 (c. 25) is a UK act of Parliament. It consolidated the bulk of the Charities Act 2006, outstanding provisions of the Charities Act 1993, and various other enactments. Repeals Legislation repealed in its entirety by th ...

, which consolidates charity law in the UK.

Provisions

The act contains three main provisions: definition of the requirements to qualify as a charity, the establishment of a

Charity Tribunal Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

to hear appeals from decisions of the

Charity Commission The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...

, and alterations to the requirements for registering charities.

Charitable status

The act imposes conditions on bodies wishing to attain or maintain charitable status.Charity commission: Public Benefit
/ref> For the purposes of the law, a charitable organisation must demonstrate that it serves the

public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...

, and that its purpose lies entirely in the promotion of one or more of the following causes: * the prevention or relief of poverty; * the advancement of education; * the advancement of religion; * the advancement of health or the saving of lives; * the advancement of citizenship or community development; * the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science; * the advancement of amateur sport; * the advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity; * the advancement of environmental protection or improvement; * the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage; * the advancement of animal welfare; * the promotion of the efficiency of the armed forces of the Crown, or of the efficiency of the police, fire and rescue services or ambulance services; * Any other purposes under ss4 of the 2006 act Prior to 2008, the law assumed that advancement of education or religion were automatically in the public interest. A "public benefit" now needs to be demonstrated.

Charity Tribunal

The act established a "Charity Tribunal" to hear appeals from decisions of the Charity Commission, which previously lay only to the High Court. The tribunal was abolished in September 2009 and its functions transferred to the

First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is a first-instance general tribunal in the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since t ...

Registration

The act raises the threshold above which registration is required with the Charity Commission from £1,000 to £5,000. This is intended to reduce administration costs for small charities. In addition, charities which fall under certain exempted categories under the 1993 act (such as certain Christian denominations) are now only exempted if their gross annual income is less than £100,000.

Section 79 - Commencement

Notes

External links

Charity commission briefing on the Act

UK Legislation

*
Explanatory notes
to the Charities Act 2006. {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2006 English trusts law Charity law Charity in the United Kingdom