Charity regulation

Charity regulation

With over 160,000 registered charities in England and Wales a formal supervisory system is essential. The Charity Commission fulfil that role and are responsible for ensuring that charities are registered and run correctly. They are responsible for all aspects of registration and general regulation.

Charity registration—when to register

The Charity Commission keep a register of all charities that they are required to supervise. There is an obligation on most charities to register and it is the trustees' obligation to ensure that all documents are submitted in order to facilitate this.

There is a continuing obligation on the trustees to consider not only whether their institution is initially charitable but also to regularly investigate its continuing activities to ensure charitable status.

The Charity Commission treats excepted and exempt charities differently to other charitable institutions. For the practitioner, it is important to note that differences as both these forms of charitable organisation are treated differently again.

The registration of an organisation is conclusive proof of its charitable status. However, a refusal to register does not necessarily mean that the organisation is not charitable. If an organisation is refused registration

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