Charities Act 2022 – what do we know so far?

Kirsteen Hook, Senior Associate at Blake Morgan, examines the changes the Charities Act 2022 introduces and its implications for practitioners and further discusses the Charity Commission’s statements to issue further guidance in an article first published in LexisNexis on 15 March.

What do we know so far about the implementation timetable?

Initially, only the Charities Act 2022, s41 (extent, commencement and short title) was brought into effect, with all the other provisions requiring the Secretary of State to make regulations to bring them into force.

In its response to the Law Commission report of 14 September 2017, ‘Technical Issues in Charity Law’, the Government wholly or partially accepted 38 of the Law Commission’s 43 recommendations for reforming charity law. Have all of the accepted recommendations made their way into the Charities Act 2022 or are there any surprises? The Act will implement the ‘vast majority’ of the recommendations from the 2017 Law Commission report, ‘Technical Issues in Charity Law’.

The Government accepted most of the recommendations (some in part, and noted some were accepted by other bodies, eg the Charity Commission), refrained from answering one (recommendation ten as it was a recommendation for the Welsh Government) and rejected five of the recommendations (which included the recommendation that the Privy Council Office established a user group for the purpose of proposing and discussing improvements to the procedures; a recommendation to abolish the requirements in section 121 of the Charities Act 2011 relating to advertising disposals of designated land; a review of the way decisions of the Charity Commission can be challenged; and 2 of the recommendations relating to the Charity Tribunal and the Courts).

What key points should charity lawyers be aware of when advising clients in light of the forthcoming changes?

It is an interesting time for charity lawyers. The introduction of the Charities Act 2022 means that charities will soon be able to take advantage of a number of flexibilities and benefits. Once the implementation timetable is published, we will have a clearer view of when charities can start to make use of the changes. For the moment, it is important for lawyers and their charity clients to be aware of the impending changes, but on the understanding that they cannot use them quite yet.

What are we expecting from the Charity Commission in terms of new and updated guidance in relation to the new legislation?

The Charity Commission is reviewing the relevant guidance and where applicable, its online digital services for charities, and these will be updated as and when the changes are implemented in accordance with their timetable. The Commission has advised that it will produce at least 12 pieces of new and/or updated guidance for charity trustees as well as over 20 pieces of internal operational guidance.

The Commission has promised to let charities know as and when its guidance is updated and/or each of the relevant parts of the Charities Act 2022 come into force. It is expected that updates will be published on the Commission’s website and by email to those on their mailing list.

You can read the article in full here.

If you need legal advice on the Charities Act, please contact one of our specialist charities lawyers.