Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill: Financial Memorandum

Overview

About the Bill

Scottish charities are regulated by an independent body. This body is called the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR).

OSCR was established under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (the 2005 Act). The 2005 Act sets out the powers that OSCR has to regulate charities. This includes publishing and maintaining the Scottish Charity Register.

This Bill makes changes to the 2005 Act. It would:

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

Current status of the Bill 

This Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government on 15 November 2022.

Read and find out more about the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill.

Stage 1

The Social Justice and Social Security Committee has been designated as the lead Committee for the Bill. A separate call for views on the Bill’s policy provisions has been issued by the lead Committee and published on this consultation platform.

Financial Memorandum

As with all Bills, the Finance and Public Administration Committee invites written evidence on the estimated financial implications of the Bill as set out in its accompanying Financial Memorandum (FM).

Read the FM published alongside this Bill.

Questions

1. Did you take part in any consultation exercise preceding the Bill and, if so, did you comment on the financial assumptions made? 
2. If applicable, do you believe your comments on the financial assumptions have been accurately reflected in the FM?
3. Did you have sufficient time to contribute to the consultation exercise?
4. If the Bill has any financial implications for you or your organisation, do you believe that they have been accurately reflected in the FM? If not, please provide details.
5. Do you consider that the estimated costs and savings set out in the FM are reasonable and accurate? 
6. If applicable, are you content that your organisation can meet any financial costs that it might incur as a result of the Bill? If not, how do you think these costs should be met? 
7. Does the FM accurately reflect the margins of uncertainty associated with the Bill’s estimated costs and with the timescales over which they would be expected to arise? 

How to submit your views

Please submit your views using the online submission form, linked to below.

We welcome written views in English, Gaelic, Scots or any other language. 

The call for views closes on Friday 17 February 2023.