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

Sanctions

A new Iran sanctions regime came into force last week.

Further Russian sanctions were also introduced – guidance can be found on the Russia sanctions statutory guidance, notices to exporters, and the notice to importers on Russia import sanctions.

The government has announced it is establishing a new Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI). OTSI will aim to assist companies in complying with the sanctions regime but will have the power to investigate breaches, issue civil penalties and, in appropriate cases, refer matters to HMRC for criminal investigation and enforcement. OTSI will launch early in 2024.

Also see below under Charity Commission inquiry reports.

Charity Commission

Inquiry report: Genesis Philanthropy Group

This inquiry was opened after three of its four trustees were designated under the UK Russia Sanctions regime (press release). The trustees resigned from the charity when designated. The inquiry found that the designated trustees acted properly by resigning from the charity after being designated.

The Commission appointed an interim manager who reviewed situations and/or transactions that could have given rise to conflicts of interests or conflicts of loyalty for one or more of the trustees including the receipt of funding from other entities and the sharing of resources with other entities. The inquiry found misconduct and/or mismanagement for failure to disclose and manage conflicts of interest.

There was also a finding of misconduct and mismanagement because the people acting as trustees had ceased to be trustees in 2021 when their initial term of office came to an end and no steps were taken to reappoint them. A spend out plan was agreed, with over £1m in leftover funds going to charities with similar objects.

Under the Sanctions Act, a General Licence was granted to permit activities to be undertaken which would otherwise be prohibited by the sanctions. The licence allowed for an Interim Manager to apply charitable funds that had been frozen because of the sanctions. All the charity's existing grant recipients regarded the General Licence as providing reassurance that they could accept the grants to which they were legally entitled.

Inquiry report: World Holocaust Forum Foundation

This inquiry was opened after one of the charity's trustees was designated under the UK Russia Sanctions regime (press release). Notwithstanding letters from the Commission setting out its view that it is not possible for a designated person to act as a trustee, the trustee did not resign. This led to his suspension.

The inquiry ultimately found that the trustee's conduct had fallen below that expected of trustees, and he was responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity. He was disqualified as a trustee for life.

The inquiry found the charity was no longer viable and it was dissolved, and its £5k of assets applied to another charity with similar objects.

Tax and VAT

Since November 2023, if individuals donate to a charity or a fundraiser on Facebook or Instagram, the donation is legally made to PayPal Giving Fund (PayPal GF), itself a registered charity. Gift Aid claims are made by PayPal GF and the gross donation is then passed on to recipient charities as a grant. This transition from Facebook / Meta to PayPal GF has raised various questions for charity fundraising teams relating to how the new arrangements work in practice. Charity Tax Group (CTG) arranged a meeting on 5 December 2023 to enable charities to ask questions of Nick Aldridge and Frank Barreca from PayPal. The session was very helpful and CTG have made the recording available here.

Sector General

NPC has produced a new guide, Centring lived experience: a strategic approach for leaders. Its aim is to help senior leaders incorporate insight from lived experience throughout their organisation. There are also these other resources around lived experience:

A study by Third Sector Jobs has found that almost half of charity staff plan to look for a new employer in the next year. The Third Sector Career Insights 2023 report found that 46% of respondents were planning to move jobs, but only 4% were planning to leave the sector.

Diversity and inclusion

NCVO has published the latest report in its Time Well Spent research series. This research report focuses on understanding the volunteering experiences and perspectives of people from the global majority. This is the term NCVO uses to capture the experiences of all ethnic groups except white British and other white minority groups.

Safeguarding

Please see below under International Development and under Education: Schools.

Fundraising

Use of subcontractors

The Fundraising Regulator's latest newsletter reports has now completed running five workshops (two in-person and three online) attended by over 80 individuals from charities and fundraising agencies. It says it will now consider the feedback from these workshops to put together a programme of advice and support for charities and agencies to share early next year.

Fundraising levy

The Fundraising Regulator has published a blog, The Fundraising Levy and why it's vital for self-regulation. It justifies the proposed increases on the basis that "...in the last few years we've seen a combination of a drop in charity revenue post-Covid (when more traditional forms of fundraising virtually stopped) and higher than expected inflation, at the same time as needing to be a more front footed and proactive regulator, which requires greater investment." Also interesting that it includes this in italics "....we have become more efficient and cost-effective in running our operations. We have even created a small reserve to pay for any bumps in our funding and in case of legal challenges to our decision making, as well as holding funds to cover costs should we not be able to continue."

Funding

In this blog, NPC shares some reflections on research it has conducted for the Santander Foundation exploring digital and financial exclusion in the UK, to help inform not only what and who Santander funds, but also how they fund.

Data protection

Fine for email disclosure of personal data

The Information Commissioner's Office has fined the Ministry of Defence £350,000 for disclosing personal information of people seeking relocation to the UK shortly after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. On 20 September 2021, the MoD sent an email to a distribution list of Afghan nationals eligible for evacuation using the 'To' field, with personal information relating to 245 people being inadvertently disclosed. The email addresses could be seen by all recipients, with 55 people having thumbnail pictures on their email profiles. This case is a timely reminder that an email to a large group of recipients must be sent so that recipients can't see names or data relating to other recipients.

Public procurement and subsidy control

The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1348) will come into force on 1 January 2024. They are made under section 12ZB of the National Health Service Act 2006 and:

  • Are intended to provide relevant authorities with more flexibility around how health services contracts are awarded, for example, by removing the requirement to undertake competitive tendering in certain circumstances.
  • Set out how the Provider Selection Regime will operate in practice – this regime will replace the existing procurement rules for healthcare services by removing procurement of health services from the scope of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102).

You can see more background information on the regime here.

An event dedicated to the Procurement Act has been organised by conference organisers BiP Solutions to take place at the NEC, Birmingham in March 2024. The Procurement Act Expo will feature sessions and workshops led by members of the Cabinet Office Transforming Public Procurement programme as well as representatives from other organisations, providing a blend of knowledge sharing and hands-on practical guidance aimed at those directly involved in the procurement process. The event is free for public sector attendees and will take place on 12 March 2024. For more details on the event, and to register, visit the dedicated event website.

The Welsh Government has published information on the statutory Social Partnership Council for Wales introduced under the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023. The Act is Wales' first piece of primary legislation on procurement and the Council is intended to improve economic, environmental, social and cultural well-being (including public services) in Wales.

Health and social care

As you've probably seen in the press, the government has launched the first ever national kinship care strategy, Championing Kinship Care. Kinship carers are extended family members who provide homes to children who can't live with their parents.

Last month, NHS England announced a £10 million programme that will deliver grant funding and tailored support to help develop new approaches to volunteering within healthcare. In January 2024, it will hold information sessions for prospective applicants. You can also register to hear more by contacting volunteeringforhealth@cwplus.org.uk.

The Department of Health and Social Care has published the terms of reference for a review into the duty of candour for health and social care providers in England. The duty of candour in this context relates to openness and transparency from a person's health or care provider. The duty was established by regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/2936) and applies to all health and social care providers regulated by the Care Quality Commission. The review will assess the:

  • Design of the statutory duty and how appropriate it is for the health and care system in England.
  • Extent the policy is honoured, monitored and enforced.
  • Extent to which the policy has met its objectives.

The outcome of the review, and any recommendations for improvement, will be published in spring 2024.

The Local Government Association and the NHS Confederation have jointly published Integrated Care Partnerships: Driving the future vision for health and care, which analyses common themes and key characteristics of effective integrated care partnerships in England.

Social enterprise

How to champion disability in your social enterprise. In a webinar convened by Pioneers Post, disability advocates discussed their experiences as disabled social entrepreneurs, giving advice on perceptions of disability and examples of how to make social enterprises more accessible. The article includes a list of resources on this topic.

A new report, Inclusive Loops: The Crucial Role of Social Enterprises in the Circular Economy, by non-profit TechnoServe and the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship, funded by IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, considers the role of social entrepreneurs in the circular economy and the opportunities they present for companies to engage with (press release/summary). The report provides 40 case studies of social enterprises covering different circular strategies, aiming to demonstrate how to bring together environmental, economic, and social impact in a future circular economy and society.

Social investment / social impact investment

The Impact Taskforce's State of Play 2023 report gives an update on progress since its 2021 recommendations on private capital seeking positive social and environmental impact, noting progress in initiatives such as the ISSB sustainability standards, the Just Transition Finance Challenge, and certain deals in the private markets where capital has been deployed for impact (press release). However, the report indicates that 2024 must be a "pivotal year of change" and that development finance institutions must reallocate budgets to redirect capital into emerging economies if we are to achieve global development goals. The Impact Taskforce is working with the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment and partners to develop and support the G7 Impact Investment Initiative in Global Health (Triple I), the Just Transition Finance Challenge and the International Foundation for the Valuation of Impacts.

Good Finance published a spotlight guide on Shariah Compliant Investing, with reference to the Local Access Bradford District collaboration, a financial initiative led by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, and aimed at creating investment opportunities that are positive for communities, as an organisation that has created a Shariah Compliant Investment product from start to finish.

International development

How could a common approach to preventing sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment support NGOs? See this Bond blog about CAPSEAH, a collective vision for action, common principles and minimum recommended actions to underpin sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment work.

Education

Schools

Hot off the press, on 19 December the Department for Education published the long awaited draft guidance for teachers on how best to support pupils questioning their gender in schools. The guidance is subject to a consultation which closes on 12 March 2024. We haven't had a chance to review the guidance in detail so will share our thoughts and comments in January. Government is encouraging parents, teachers, and school leaders to respond to the 12-week consultation.

The Government has launched a consultation on the design and development of the Advanced British Standard (press release), the new baccalaureate style qualification aimed at 16 – 19 year olds, introduced as part of the Prime Minister's push for vocational, skills-based education. The consultation closes on 20 March 2024.

Schools Week reports that school leaders affected by the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) crisis will be facing long waits to be reimbursed for their spending on mitigation, which, for some schools, was in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Further Education

The FE Commissioner, Shelagh Legrave, has published her latest annual report. The report is more positive which, according to FE Week, was deliberate due to the financial state of the sector.

Higher Education

The Office for Students has published consultations on its new free speech complaints scheme (deadline 10 March 2024) and monitoring students' unions (deadline 17 March 2024). These proposals aim to allow students, staff and visitors to complain to the regulator about restrictions on their free speech. See this OfS press release for more information.

This Guardian article reports that student network People and Planet has published its 'sustainability university league', which shows that 72% of 151 universities surveyed have committed to fossil fuel divestment – an increase of 7% on last year. The article mostly puts this down to student-led pressure and campaigning.

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