Scottish Charity Regulator
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The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR; ) is a
non-ministerial department Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political over ...
of the
Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
with responsibility for the regulation of
charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...
in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. OSCR is the independent regulator and registrar for more than 25,000 Scottish charities. OSCR is charged with developing a regulatory framework for Scottish charities, where each charity is clear about its rights and responsibilities. This framework should also foster public confidence in charities. OSCR is directly answerable to the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
. OSCR is based in
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
.


Background

In 1981 the Law Society of Scotland announced support for a register through which all charities in Scotland could record their purposes, financial details, and accounts. Under section 6 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990, the
Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...
was given the power to make inquiries either for general or specific purposes and to obtain various types of information from charities. Following the Scotland Act and the establishment of both the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government, this power was exercised by the Scottish Ministers. Initially, charity regulation was carried out by the Scottish Charities Office, a department in the Crown Office, but they were only able to investigate a charity on receipt of a complaint or when they had reasonable grounds to suspect problems. The regulatory function was transferred to OSCR in December 2003.


History

It was formerly an
executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...
but following the passing of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 it was made independent of ministerial control, and answers directly to the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
. It is the equivalent of the
Charity Commission for England and Wales The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government that regulates Charitable organization, registered charities in En ...
and the
Charity Commission for Northern Ireland The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland is the independent regulator of Northern Ireland charities. It was established in 2009 under the Charities Act (NI) 2008. Aims The stated vision of the commission is for "a dynamic and well governed ...
. In 2005, OSCR published the first definitive list of 18,000 charities operating in Scotland – this information was searchable. OSCR's full regulatory powers came into force on 24 April 2006. In July 2008, OSCR published results of a survey showing some positive attitudes towards the organization from the charity sector and the public.


Functions

OSCR performs a range of functions which includes: * Determining whether bodies are charities * Keeping a public Register of charities * Facilitating compliance by charities with the legislation * Investigating any apparent misconduct in the administration of charities * Giving information or advice to Scottish Ministers OSCR also has a role to protect
whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
s from detrimental treatment. Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, OSCR is a "prescribed person" and therefore allowed to accept disclosures from people who carry out paid work for a charity.


Charities Act 2023

The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill was passed by the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
on 28 June 2023, and became an Act on 9 August 2023. This Act makes changes to the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. It will: * give OSCR wider powers to investigate charities and charity trustees * amend the rules on who can be a charity trustee or a senior office-holder in a charity * increase the information that OSCR holds about charity trustees * update the information which needs to be included on the Scottish Charity Register * create a record of charities that have merged. The measures in this Act are planned to be introduced on a phased basis, with the first changes taking effect on 1 April 2024. Further changes will be introduced on 1 October 2024, and the final measures will are planned to come into force in summer 2025.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Non-ministerial departments of the Scottish Government Organisations based in Dundee 2003 establishments in Scotland Government agencies established in 2003 Charity regulators Regulators of Scotland