About the CFDG
Monitoring of Cross Border Charities
This consultation is now closed.
CFDG are in support of proposals which allow the office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) to monitor charitable activity in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish people.
OSCR are proposing that charities operating in Scotland but registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales should have to provide:
- An annual return (to keep the Scottish register of charities up to date)
- An Information Return (with details of financial activity, and, where not available in the annual accounts, details of charitable objectives, activities and risks relating to Scotland)
- A copy of the Annual Report and Accounts (which must, legally, comply with the accounting standards for England and Wales and for Scotland. In practise this mainly refers to some differences in financial thresholds)
Of these three items we have no concerns about the annual return of the submission of charities' Annual Report and Accounts. However, we are concerned that questions A. 1 - A. 4 in the Information Return may prove difficult for charities to answer accuately. We appreciate that question A. 5 provides an alternative where questions A. 1 - A. 4 are difficult to answer, but we have cautioned that question A. 5 can only provide a 'ballpark' figure of a charity's financial activity in Scotland.
Further information
Consultation documents are available on the OSCR website:
www.oscr.org.uk/OpenConsultations.stm