This new Act, which comes into effect on 14 March, replaces most of the Charities Acts of 1992, 1993 and 2006 and all of the Recreational Charities Act 1958. The new Act doesn't make any changes to the law: it simply consolidates existing charities legislation so that it can now be found in one place. It does not replace those sections in the Charities Acts which are not yet in force (ie those which relate to public charitable collections) and it does not contain any provisions relating to fundraising that are already in force, which means that the regulation of professional fundraisers and commercial participators remains in Part 2 of the Charities Act 1992 (as amended by the Charities Act 2006).
The only practical implications for charities arising from the new Act are that any documents (including governing documents, annual reports and accounts) produced on or after 14 March 2012 will need to refer to the relevant provisions of the new Act (even if in the case of the annual report and accounts, they relate to an earlier financial period). If you forget to refer to the new Act for documents produced on or after 14 March 2012 you will not need to go back and change them and they will still be valid. It will not be necessary to make any changes to documents finalised before 14 March 2012.
Please click on the link below to the Charity Commission's
website for more details, including a link to the full text of the
new Act.
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/About_us/Regulation/charbill.aspx
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.
