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Spring Charities Newsletter Fundraising Review September 2015 heralded the review of fundraising regulation in England and Wales (by the NCVO (Etherington Report)), and in Scotland (by the SCVO). The key reforms south of the border are now well underway, and those charities with fundraising activity in England and Wales should be alert to the changes. Reform in Scotland is moving at a slower pace with uncertainty as to which approach will be taken (perhaps because Scottish charities have not experienced the drop in trust and confidence reported elsewhere in the UK). Following our report on the progress of the review of fundraising in the last issue of this newsletter the progress outlined below has been made. England and Wales: The FPS working party published a discussion paper on the Fundraising Preference Service (FPS) setting out the key characteristics of the service and the service is expected to be in place by April 2017. The Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 received royal assent in March; however most of the provisions do not take effect immediately and will be implemented over time (an implementation plan has not yet been published). This Act imposes more controls and safeguards around fundraising; introduces a new statutory power for charities to make social investments; provides for the disqualification of charity trustees; and creates increased powers for the Charity Commission to step in as a regulatory body should the revised system of selfregulation of fundraising in the industry fail to secure the results sought. The IoF and the PFRA have signed heads of terms for their merger agreement with completion planned for 31 July 2016. The new Fundraising Regulator is on track to be fully operational by early summer and recently launched its website with logo and branding. Some charities have expressed reservations about paying the levy to cover the set up costs of the new Fundraising Regulator (e.g. Parkinson’s UK and RNIB) and most recently the Tate art gallery announced its refusal to pay. The levy is voluntary, but the 2016 Act does provide the government with the ability to impose mandatory payment if charity compliance becomes an issue. It will be interesting to see how this develops as we near the launch of the Fundraising Regulator. Scotland: The Scottish Fundraising Working Group (set up by the SCVO) has issued an options appraisal outlining three potential approaches to self-regulation • Option 3: no intermediary – this option allows charities to take ownership via self-regulation while providing the OSCR with an enhanced role. The working party advocated Option 3 as most aligned with the initial SCVO recommendation that the regulatory approach taken in England and Wales was inappropriate for Scotland where fundraising ‘scandals’ have been less of issue. Implementation of Option 1 would require adoption of the FPS whereas the working party leave it to public decision whether Options 2 and 3 integrate the FPS. of fundraising by the third sector in Scotland, including: • Option 1: a UK wide Fundraising Regulator to act as intermediary – this option would bring Scotland in line with the English approach outlined above so that the new Fundraising Regulator would also oversee the fundraising of Scottish charities; • Option 2: a new Scottish Fundraising Regulator to act as intermediary – this option would create a Scottish Fundraising Regulator with a similar role to the Fundraising Regulator in England and Wales but specifically responsible for supervising Scottish Charities; For further information we will shortly release a detailed insight on these regulatory changes and how they will affect you in both England and Wales and in Scotland. If you wish to receive our blog updates please click here. 3 www.macroberts.com