Our weekly round up of news and updates from across the sector

Cost of living crisis

Research conducted by NCVO warns that 19% of charities may be forced to halt their work due to what they call a "cost-of-giving crisis." The combination of rising costs, lower incomes and increased demand has led to a dire climate for the sector this winter.

Charities Act 2022

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has updated the implementation plan for the Charities Act 2022 to say that the next tranche of the Act's provisions will not come into force until early 2024. The delayed provisions include:

  • reforms to the rules on charity governing documents;
  • charity land (including changes to the information that must be included in statements and certificates for both charity land disposals and mortgages); and
  • charity mergers.

Amendments to the Universities and College Estates Act 1925 are still due to come into force in Spring 2025.

The implementation plan still indicates that sections 15 and 16 relating to ex gratia payments "are under further consideration prior to commencement".

Charity Commission

Governance Framework

The Commission has updated its governance framework to include a new Appendix – 'Board Member Profile'. It sets out a brief description of the role of the Board, and Board members and covers topics including appointment, time commitment, conflicts of interest and appraisal.

Sector General

Following Royal Assent, we now have the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The government press release emphasises the Act will, among other things:

  • produce more local infrastructure, like GP surgeries, schools and transport links; and
  • give councils the powers to work directly with landlords to bring empty buildings back into use by local businesses and community groups.

Government rejected a House of Lords amendment to the then Bill that sought to allow local authorities to conduct their meetings virtually in England – the rejection was on the basis that "local authorities should continue to meet in person to ensure good governance".

On 20 November, NPC is running a free online event: "How can you meaningfully involve young people in your policy work?". It will bring together policy organisations, young people and funders to discuss practical insights on how to involve young people in policy work.

Diversity and inclusion

Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)

In July 2023, the Minster for Women and Equalities commissioned an independent legal expert to review the handling of complaints against the EHRC's Chairwoman, Baroness Kishwer Falkner. The EWCR has announced that the review has concluded and guidance has been shared with the Interim Deputy Chair and the Board, who have decided that the investigation into the Chairwoman should close. The Board is working through outstanding issues with the parties in confidence and conducting a review of its process failures as well as its own rules and governance.

Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023

Royal Assent was granted last week for the Bill which has become the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023. Through amendments to the Equality Act 2010, it introduces new protections against sexual harassment in the workplace, including:

  • Employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees; and
  • Employment tribunals have a power to increase compensation by up to 25% if an employer has breached the duty above.

The protections were watered down through eleventh hour amendments by the House of Lords. The employer's statutory duty was changed from 'all reasonable steps' to 'reasonable steps' and the restoration of third-party harassment rights (which were repealed from the EA 2010 in 2013) was rejected.

Fundraising

Use of sub-contractors in fundraising

We've previously mentioned that the Fundraising Regulator (FR) has announced the launch of a market inquiry to look into issues relating to the use of subcontractors in face-to-face fundraising. As part of the inquiry, it intends to run a series of fact-finding workshops in late November to early December to help gain a broad understanding of how subcontracting is working, and may not be working, in the fundraising sector. The FR is planning workshops for:

(a) Charity fundraising team senior representatives (e.g. Heads of Individual Giving, Heads of Acquisition, Fundraising Directors);

(b) Charity compliance team senior representatives (e.g. Compliance Managers or legal team members); and

(c) Fundraising agency senior representatives.

If you would like to participate, you can register by sending your details to admin@fundraisingregulator.org.uk by Friday 3 November.

Charity shops

A 'Social Return on Investment' report commissioned by the Charity Retail Association found that a total of £75.3bn of social value was generated by charity shops in the UK in 2022. Of this, almost half was related to "giving back to others or the planet". The report also suggests that for every £1 invested in charity retail, £7.35 of social value is generated.

Lottery changes

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising has responded to a recent consultation which is proposing major changes to how charities can market society lotteries. See its full response setting out why society lotteries should be exempt from these changes here.

Data and Data Protection

A government led coalition has launched a call for ideas for how to use Smart Data across different sectors to benefit individuals and small businesses. The coalition is looking for ideas which could, amongst other things, support vulnerable individuals across sectors such as financial services, transport and home buying. Mentorship, guidance and cash prizes are available for the best contributions. More information can be found here.

Online Safety Act 2023

The Online Safety Act 2023 (introduced after Royal Assent last week) is described by the Government as placing legal responsibility on tech companies to prevent and rapidly remove illegal content, like terrorism and revenge pornography. Such companies will also have to stop children seeing material that is harmful to them such as bullying, content promoting self-harm and eating disorders, and pornography. The substantive provisions in the Act do not come into force immediately. Ofcom,who is appointed the online safety regulator under the Act, has to first publish a number of codes of practice and guidance setting out the detail on how providers should best comply with the Act, and the Secretary of State has to make secondary legislation (for example, on how services are to be categorised). Ofcom has published information on its regulatory approach and timing.

Public procurement and subsidy control

Last week also saw Royal Assent being granted for the Bill which has become the Procurement Act 2023. Government says it is planning for the necessary secondary legislation to be laid early in 2024 and for the new regime to go live in October 2024. Government will also be running a series of webinars covering the final shape of the Bill and looking ahead to future key milestones. The webinars will take place on:

  • Wednesday 15th November at 15:00-16:00
  • Thursday 16th November at 12:00-13:00
  • Monday 20th November at 10:00-11:00

You can register for your place on a webinar here.

Charlie Miller of Bates Wells' Dispute Resolution team comments that "the new Procurement Act 2023 has taken a long time to make its way through Parliament and represents a significant transformation of public procurement law in this country. We will be providing an update of the key changes shortly – from the greater flexibility the Act offers to contracting authorities to shape procurements as they wish, to the increased emphasis on transparency and the publication of notices throughout the procurement process (and after). We will also be running training sessions in 2024 in the lead-up to the bill going live."

Volunteering

The government has released details of the organisations receiving funding as part of the 'Know Your Neighbourhood Fund'. The aim of the fund is to support organisations to provide more volunteering opportunities, particularly in 27 identified disadvantaged areas. The press release also includes details of £4.1 million of funding towards the Social Enterprise Boost Fund.

Company law

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023, becoming the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. The Act is wide ranging, providing the UK with new powers to proactively tackle fraud and counter corruption – see this summary for full details. The full text as passed by Parliament is accessible here. We are anticipating a new identification regime which will apply to all company directors and Persons of Significant Control. We do not know the full detail of this yet as Companies House will need time to put in place new processes.

Health and social care

The government has announced additional funding of £5 million to expand the services of 10 existing early support hubs which deliver mental health support for children and young people.

Social Enterprise

Social Enterprise UK collaborated with social enterprise The Ubele Initiative to host an event at the Social Enterprise World Forum exploring how 'community wealth building', an economic development model giving control and ownership of assets to communities, can empower racially minoritised communities. See here for more information.

Social investment/social impact investment

New data from Convergence, the global blended finance network, shows that climate-focused blended finance deals dropped by 55% in 2022 – the lowest in ten years. Their report, 'The State of Blended Finance 2023', delves into the reasons for this drop, and what needs to be done to improve the state of play.

Social Investment Business has announced a £4m 'Cost of Living Fund' which aims to provide a blend of grants and loans to charities supporting people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis in England's most deprived areas.

Education

Schools

The Welsh Government has made the School Admission Appeals Code (Appointed Day) Wales Order 2023 (SI 2023/1113), which provides that the appointed day for the coming into force of the revised School Admission Appeals Code is 1 November 2023.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has sent a letter to schools stating that parents should be able to view Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum resources. They can view this material "despite any contractual restrictions with a third-party provider" which the Education Secretary considers "void and unenforceable"" because they "contradict the clear public policy interest of ensuring that parents are aware of what their children are being taught."

A Schools Week article reports former chief of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw saying, in evidence given to the education select committee as part of its inquiry into Ofsted, that Ofsted has 'moved too far away from outcomes data'. He claimed that Ofsted scores are becoming too curriculum-focused, inspectors do not look enough at teaching quality and that inspection judgments given with a single phrase should be scrapped because they do not give parents an accurate enough picture.

The Department for Education (DfE) has opened a consultation on proposed changes to the non-statutory elective home education guidance for local authorities and parents.

Further Education

The DfE has published a list of training providers who were successful in their applications to take part in the expert apprenticeship training provider pilot. Whilst they do not receive additional funding, benefits include being able to use their 'expert status' as a marketing tool and mark of excellence.

See here for the weekly ESFA Update covering news for academies, local authorities and FE providers from the 25th October.

Higher Education

Jack Smith, Head of Pathways and Funding Policy at the Office for Students (OfS), has written a blog post on The Lifelong Learning Entitlement. He covers how higher education delivery will change, the OfS's role as a regulator, and some next steps.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.