Charity Commission and OSCR should iron out discrepancies, says Charity Law Association
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator and the Charity Commission should agree a common approach to charities that file their documents late, according to the Charity Law Association.
The association was responding to the OSCR's consultation on its proposed approach to cross-border regulation, which closed at Christmas (Third Sector Online, 8 October 2008).
It welcomed the OSCR's "lead regulator" model, whereby it would only ask for a limited amount of information from charities that were already registered with the Charity Commission.
But it regretted that both the filing deadlines and the response of the two regulators to late submission were different. It said the discrepancy could unnecessarily damage charities' reputations when they were working constructively with one of the regulators to file their documents without further delay.
The CLA report says: "Ideally the ability to reflect on the registers a reason for late filing, where one exists, would be attractive. This would avoid any unwarranted conclusions being drawn."
The CLA also criticised the OSCR for asking for information about charity surpluses or deficits. It said the OSCR should only be concerned by charities in financial trouble when there were suggestions of maladministration by their trustees. "The OSCR is required to be concerned with the propriety of a charity's operations, but not its viability or financial success," the report reads.
