When setting up a charity the longevity of that charity must be a critical factor in determining its aims and objects. If it is a short term prospect (perhaps for a specific event) then this is not such a problem but if long term it has to be recognised that aims and objectives may well change, or have to change, over time. Aims and objectives Before setting up the charity some aims need to be clarified: • what the charity will practically seek to achieve • allied to this, who will benefit from the charity • is the actual work the 'charity' is proposing charitable within the legal definition • what are the advantages and disadvantages of being a charity—some activities (particularly political) may not be best served (if even possible) via a charitable organisation One problem that is faced by new charities is uniqueness. There are many charities (over 160,000 registered by the Charity Commission as at 2012) and some overlap of aims and objects is bound to occur. The problem could

Under the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011) a charity in English law is an institution which is established for charitable purposes only and falls to be subject to the jurisdiction of the High Court of England and Wales. Charitable purposes are defined in the Act by reference to a list of types of purpose and an overriding requirement that the purpose is for the public benefit. Public benefit is defined by case law and official guidance on the meaning of public benefit is provided by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Charities are subject to EqA 2010, which contains limited exceptions for them in relation to the qualifications of beneficiaries and this can affect the way in which a charity may delineate and describe its objects. There are provisions relating to the meaning of charity and charitable purposes for the purpose of the law of Scotland and Northern Ireland which are similar but not identical to those in CA 2011. In Scotland the relevant regulator is the Office of the Scottish Charities

Devolution of tax powers in Scotland Most charity tax reliefs across the United Kingdom flow from Acts of Parliament and associated regulations originating in the Westminster Parliament. A number of taxes are however the subject of devolved powers. In the case of Scotland, those devolved powers rest with the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh. As well as devolving particular tax powers, there is power to His Majesty by Order in Council to devolve such further taxes as he may think expedient, and to make other necessary or expedient modifications to already devolved taxes (Scotland Act 1998, s 80B). The purpose of this note is to highlight those areas of Scottish taxation which are devolved and the specific charity tax relief provisions attaching to those taxes. For reserved taxes within the UK, see the Practice Note Tax treatment of a charity. In particular, the following key taxes among others are reserved to Westminster and are dealt with on a uniform basis across the UK from a charity tax relief point of view: income tax

Definitions of charity and charitable trust The relevant definitions for the purposes of the law in England and Wales are: • 'charity' means an institution which ◦ (a) is established for charitable purposes only and ◦ (b) falls to be subject to the control of the High Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction with respect to charities • a 'charitable purpose' is a purpose which falls within section 3(1) of the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011) and is for the public benefit • 'charity trustees' means the person having the general control and management of the administration of a charity • 'trusts' in relation to a charity means the provisions establishing it as a charity and regulating its purposes and administration whether those provisions take effect as a trust or not and in relation to other institutions has a corresponding meaning There is a distinction between a charity and a charitable trust: The charity relates to the personality of those persons which are recognised by the law as having legal existence

Law360, London: A national grant-making charity launched its strategy for using undistributed damages from collective action claims on 28 October 2025 after receiving an unclaimed £3.8m settlement award over a case involving rail operators.

Many charities would not describe any of their activities as trading as they do not appear to conform to the traditional commercial trading model. However, many of their activities may well be trading and to not examine those activities at regular intervals could result in an unexpected tax bill. It is not only HMRC that will be interested. The Charity Commission will look at those activities in the light of a charity's principal aims of raising funds for distribution for charitable purposes and consider closely whether there may have been a breach of trust or an ultra vires situation. The Charity Commission's attitude is that: While charities may trade more or less freely in pursuit of their charitable objectives, there are restrictions on engaging in trades the objective of which is to generate funds for the charity. In particular, charities may not engage in such commercially-oriented trades where a significant risk to their assets would be involved. Where trading (other than trading in pursuit of its charitable objects) involves

[HEADED NOTEPAPER] [NAME and ADDRESS OF CHARITY] [DATE] [ADDRESS OF CHARITY] [By email] Dear [NAME OF APPOINTEE] Your appointment as trustee of [INSERT CHARITY NAME] I am writing to confirm that you have been appointed as a trustee [and director] of [FULL NAME OF CHARITY INCLUDING WORKING NAME/ACRONYM], a [registered charity in England and Wales ([CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER])] [ and ] [a company, registered under number [NUMBER]]. Many congratulations, and my fellow trustees and I look forward to working with you. [You will be appointed a charity trustee [and director] effective on [DATE] subject to the satisfactory completion of background and eligibility checks, and upon receipt of all the necessary documents which are enclosed with this letter: [INSERT RELEVANT DOCUMENTS]. OR You have been appointed a charity trustee [and director] effective on [DATE], having completed the relevant background and eligibility checks, and received the necessary declarations and documentation from you.] Our contact details for you are: [List contact details] Please advise if these contact details are incorrect. WELCOME TO [NAME OF CHARITY] and TRUSTEESHIP Our purpose and governing documents [NAME OF CHARITY] is a [trust OR Charitable Incorporated Organisation

Law360: The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has given the former president-elect of the British Psychological Society a second chance to prove he can pursue a whistleblowing detriment claim in a ruling that could pave the way for wider whistleblowing protections for charity trustees.

Charity trustees are defined by the Charities Act 2011, s 177 to mean the 'persons having the general control and management of the administration of a charity'.

There are many trusteeship roles which may arise from the structure and administration of a charitable trust, from that of a classic all-purpose trustee, to a far more limited or specialised role such as a bare trustee or nominee. Functions of trustees of charitable trusts In the simplest situation there is a single body of individual trustees which, in the case of a charitable, as opposed to a private trust, is not limited in number even if the trust property includes land. In this situation, the trustees are responsible for: • holding the legal title to the trust property • taking all banking, property management, insurance and investment decisions • employing staff and entering into contracts • receiving and applying the income, and (if there is a power to spend it) the capital for the purpose of meeting the administrative expenses and furthering the charity’s purposes • producing the annual return and accounts • otherwise complying with charity law requirements imposed on charity trustees • representing the charity in the outside world A

The powers exercisable by charity trustees derive variously from the express provisions of the charity governing document, the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011) and other statutes, as well as from common law and statutory rules deriving from the nature of the charity itself as a legal entity. However, all powers are exercisable only for the purpose of furthering the charity’s objects and protecting the charity’s assets, and if charity trustees exercise their power for other purposes or in a manner which is not in the charity’s best interests, that decision may amount, if deliberate, to a ‘fraud on a power’ or otherwise to a negligent (or an inadvertent) breach of trust for which the trustees could be held personally liable. Powers and the charity format The nature of the charity may itself be relevant to the powers available to the trustees. An unincorporated body of charity trustees, whether a trust or an unincorporated association, is legally nothing more than a group of persons and, in so far as they are individuals, ie natural persons rather

Trustees' functions The starting point is that the trustees, or ‘charity trustees’ as defined in section 177 of the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011), are the persons in charge of the charity who will make the important decisions about strategy, investment policy and the image which the charity is to project. Certain functions must be carried out by trustees: • holding or controlling the assets • deciding how to use the assets and apply the funds • when required, deciding whether funds are to be raised from outside sources • deciding when and how the charity’s constitution is to be altered All charities have charity trustees, but there are other functions which may be carried out by other types of trustee or the charity’s particular structure may incorporate other organs with specialist functions. For example, the members of a charitable company, as opposed to the directors, are responsible for decisions on constitutional change. Trustees and the trust structure In some cases, the legal form of the charity will, to some extent, dictate