Charity Commission publishes revised public benefit guidance for charities
The Charity Commission has issued its revised public benefit guidance for all charities.
The guidance comprises three documents:
- Public Benefit: the public benefit requirement;
- Public Benefit: running a charity;
- Public Benefit: reporting.
The Commission said the documents explained what was required to show that an organisation was a charity (by having purposes that were for the public benefit), what trustees’ duties were in carrying out those purposes for the public benefit, and how trustees should report on the public benefit their charity provided in their Annual Report.
The guides also set out that the trustees of charities which charge fees for services or facilities that the poor cannot afford must make provision for the poor to benefit.
“It is for trustees – not the Commission or the courts – to decide how to do this, but they must act reasonably and make more than a minimal provision,” the regulator said.
The Commission said its guidance was not the law on public benefit but it explained and reflected the law. The regulator has also published an analysis of the law relating to public benefit and an explanation of the ways in which the regulator has responded to comments made during the consultation.
The new guidance completely replaces the Commission’s previous general public benefit guidance ‘Charities and Public Benefit’ and supplementary public benefit guidance on ‘Public Benefit and Fee-charging’.
That supplementary guidance was removed from the Commission’s website in 2011 following a legal challenge by the Independent Schools Council and a ruling of the Upper Tribunal.
The three public benefit guides are designed as general guidance for all charities. They do not deal specifically with the public benefit of particular types of charity, such as religious or educational charities.
According to the Commission, that will be dealt with, as necessary, in separate guidance aimed specifically at charities with particular purposes.
The Commission’s current supplementary public benefit guidance on ‘The prevention or relief of poverty for the public benefit’, ‘The advancement of education for the public benefit’, and ‘The advancement of religion for the public benefit’ is under review in light of the revised general guidance, and to take account of relevant decisions of the Charity Tribunal made since the guidance was issued in December 2008.
“It no longer forms part of our public benefit guidance, but will remain available to read until we publish replacement guidance,” the Commission said.
William Shawcross, chairman of the Charity Commission, said: “Public benefit is an important part of what makes the work of charities so valuable to the community. Trustees therefore need to understand how their charity benefits the public, and work to deliver and report on those benefits.
“Public benefit is a complex area of charity law to explain. But, for most charities, demonstrating that their purposes are for the public benefit, carrying them out for the public benefit and reporting on their public benefit, is straightforward."
Shawcross added: “We have worked hard to provide guidance that is accessible to trustees of all types of charity, while still accurately reflecting the law. We have accepted comments made during our consultation to keep the guidance short and clear. This means that the guidance certainly cannot answer every question.
“There is no statutory definition of public benefit so its meaning will continue to develop through decisions made by the courts. As the law develops, we will keep our guidance under review.”