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

Charity Commission

Hot off the press today, the Charity Commission has published an updated version of its guidance CC14, now called "Investing charity money: guidance for trustees". Here are links to:

We will publish commentary and key points as soon as possible!

New 'My Charity Commission Account'

On Monday 31 July, the Commission's new 'My Charity Commission Account' online service went live. The Commission has said this will be a significant change to the online filing portal and has allocated extra staff time to help charities with the adjustment. 

Statutory inquiry

The Commission has launched inquiries into two charities funding educational institutes in Israel. The Telz Talmudical Academy and Talmud Torah Trust and The Gevurath Ari Torah Academy Trust are being investigated for financial management concerns, particularly the use of signed blank cheques.

Regulatory compliance case

The Commission has announced that it has concluded its regulatory compliance investigation into the Jim Ratcliffe Foundation. The Commission concluded that funding decisions made by the Foundation, including grants totalling €12,500,000 to a French charity towards the construction of a ski clubhouse. were in furtherance of the charity's objects. The Commission has also welcomed the trustees' decision to take steps to appoint at least one trustee who is not employed by a company connected to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Governance

NPC is running a paid-for event on 14 November to explore how to embed the social impacts of the environmental crises into your strategy.

Also see first item under Fundraising below.

Sector General

Government proposals to abolish inheritance tax could negatively impact charities' legacy income, a vital revenue stream for UK charities in the current economic climate – raising almost £4bn annually. Lucinda Frostick, director of Remember a Charity, wrote for Civil Society about these concerns.

Campaigning and political activity

In our first election factsheet (read here) we discussed how election law might affect your organisation. Broadly, ahead of an election (such as the upcoming UK general election which is likely to take place within the next 12 – 18 months), spending limits and transparency requirements can apply to your activities if they could be seen to be intended to influence an election result. These rules can also apply to policy or issue-based campaigning. An additional set of rules under election law that can apply when publishing advocacy and campaigning content (including, e.g., social media posts), is the 'imprint' regime. In this week's factsheet, we've joined forces with the Electoral Commission, who have set out below the key requirements of the regime, along with how your organisation could be affected.

AI

For any organisations looking to introduce internal guidance on the use of AI, these may be of interest:

  • The Cabinet Office has published Guidance to civil servants on use of generative AI. Generative AI is a broad label used to describe any type of artificial intelligence that can be used to create new text, images, video, audio or code. The guidance, which contains some general principles for the use of the technology, covers ChatGPT and Google's Bard and includes information on systems such as DALL-E (which generates images based on text) and BLOOM which generates computer code. , It also covers how the general principles apply to use of Large Language Models (LLMs) and the practicalities of using LLMs.
  • The Society of Innovation, Technology and Modernisation (Socitm) and its New Zealand partner, the Association of Local Government Information Management have published Sample corporate policy: use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) large language models including ChatGPT . The policy is intended to provide a framework for the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence Large Language models, such as ChatGPT, Bard, Bing or other similar tools by council employees, contractors, developers, vendors, temporary staff, consultants or other third parties. The policy is designed to ensure that users utilise GenAI in a manner that "promotes fairness and avoids bias to prevent discrimination and promote equal treatment" and will "contribute positively to the council's goals and values".

Eleonor Duhs, Bates Wells Head of Data & Privacy comments, "It's interesting to see examples of AI policies starting to be published. Due to the overlap with data protection, the Information Commissioner's Office is also a good source of AI resources: there's guidance on AI and data protection and also this AI Toolkit."

Climate change

See under Governance above.

As a tool to help developers deliver mandatory biodiversity gain (due to be introduced in England in November 2023), "responsible bodies" will be able to agree voluntary conservation covenants with a landowner, which are legally binding not only on the landowner but on subsequent owners of the land. Conservation charities can now apply to become responsible bodies – Defra has published application guidance on applying (see press release).

Also see under Advertising below.

Diversity and inclusion

If you are interested in learning more about LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace, read our guide on recent Employment Tribunal cases relating to the UK workplace, membership organisations and service providers.

Fundraising

General

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising has released "Investing in Fundraising", a guide to help senior leaders, boards, and fundraisers put forward a case for investment in fundraising. The guide highlights three key areas to consider investing in – supporter experience, legacies, and digital.

Lotteries

Charities which run lotteries and society lottery providers may want to take part in a new Gambling Commission consultation on proposed changes to Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). Bates Wells senior associate Molly Carew-Jones explains, "Not all of the changes are relevant to society lottery providers but there are some relevant changes in relation to direct gambling marketing and changes relevant to remote licence holders. Further consultations are expected in the coming months as the Gambling Commission looks to implement the government's white paper on gambling that was published earlier this year."

Data protection

Subject access requests

The Information Commissioner has commented on Nigel Farage accessing information held about him through a subject access request.

Company law

Through the Company Names Tribunal, London Business School has successfully objected to the name "London Business School of Training and Development Limited" used by a different company.

Advertising

The Advertising Standards Authority has updated its guidance on misleading environmental claims to help advertisers and agencies make sure environmental claims are always given clear context, and that they don't mislead by omission.

Northern Ireland

CCNI has updated its list of organisations it hopes to call forward in the coming months.

Health and social care

In this letter, Helen Whately, Minister of State for Social Care, sets out the government's priorities for adult social care this winter.

The government has announced a £600 million package to "help with recruitment and retention in social care". The package includes a £570 million workforce fund over 2 years, distributed to local authorities, and £30 million funding for "local authorities in the most challenged health systems". 

Housing

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced further plans for regeneration, inner-city densification and housing delivery across England. Three English cities (Cambridge, Central London and Central Leeds) have been identified for "regeneration and renaissance", and money from the Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land fund will be used for new homes on brownfield sites.

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023has received Royal Assent. It follows the November 2020 Social Housing White Paper, which proposed various measures including giving tenants greater powers, improving access to swift and fair redress, and enhancing the powers of the Regulator of Social Housing.

The Regulator of Social Housing has issued Consumer standards consultation – Reshaping consumer regulation on four proposed consumer standards, which set out the specific expectations and outcomes that all registered providers of social housing will be expected to achieve from April 2024.

Access to employment

The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee has published "Plan for Jobs and employment support", a 96-page report containing numerous recommendations to the government on ways in which it could encourage greater employment among demographic groups in which there are currently high levels of economic inactivity. The report covers young people (aged between 16 and 24), over-50s, and people with disabilities and long-term health conditions.

Victim support services

Up to £8.3 million of funding has been granted to 55 organisations providing support to victims of abuse, including counselling, training and community outreach.

International development

In advance of the upcoming 2023 Summit on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), taking place from 18-19 September, Bond's SDG working group has developed a set of recommendations to accelerate the UK's progress in actioning its commitment to the UN SDGs.

Bond has also published this summary of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office annual report and accounts which show that despite recent falls, UK ODA is set to rise from 2024.

Education

Schools

The school and college panel 'omnibus surveys' for 2022-23 have shown the realities of the cost-of-living crisis for the education sector: (see Schools Week commentary here). These surveys, commissioned by the DfE, gather views from senior leaders and teachers in state primary and secondary schools and colleges. Findings include that:

  • Two-thirds of schools have raised their meal prices;
  • Two-fifths had or would cut non-teaching staff;
  • Less than two-thirds of schools were fully compliant with uniform guidance;
  • Nearly two-thirds of teachers said in January they had taught outside their subject in the last year.

A DfE funding plan for the "largest ever" expansion of free childcare has been set out, a DfE press release shows. The proposed formula will cover all ages from nine months to the start of school – see the consultation on the matter here.

The DfE has also confirmed a new 2-year plan to boost the quality of and access to PE and sports for all school pupils.

Higher Education

The Office for Students has launched a consultation on whether it should include higher technical qualifications in its student outcome measures. This would allow for better assessment of the extent to which these qualifications are providing positive outcomes.

The government has announced plans to "crack down" and put stricter controls on degrees it believes are "rip offs". Government describes these as degrees that tend to have higher drop-out and lower graduate employment rates. The government also proposes to reduce the maximum fee for classroom-based foundation year courses from £9,250 to £5,760.

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.