The Government has approved plans by Minister for Justice, Equality and
Defence, Alan Shatter, TD, to proceed with the establishment of an
independent Charities Regulatory Authority under the terms of the 2009
Charities Act. The new Authority will come into operation in 2014. The
outcome of a public consultation on charities regulation carried out by the
Department of Justice and Equality earlier this year is being published
today on the website of the Department of Justice and Equality.
The new Charities Regulatory Authority will have the following functions,
as set out in the Charities Act:
· increase public trust and confidence in the management and
administration of charitable trusts and charitable organisations;
· promote compliance by charity trustees with their duties in the
control and management of charitable trusts and charitable
organisations;
· promote the effective use of the property of charitable trusts or
charitable organisations;
· ensure the accountability of charitable organisations to donors and
beneficiaries of charitable gifts, and the public;
· promote understanding of the requirement that charitable purposes
confer a public benefit;
· establish and maintain a register of charitable organisations;
· ensure and monitor compliance by charitable organisations with this
Act;
· carry out investigations in accordance with this Act;
· encourage and facilitate the better administration and management of
charitable organisations by the provision of information or advice,
including in particular by way of issuing (or, as it considers
appropriate, approving) guidelines, codes of conduct, and model
constitutional documents;
· carry on such activities or publish such information (including
statistical information) concerning charitable organisations and
trusts as it considers appropriate;
· provide information (including statistical information) or advice, or
make proposals, to the Minister on matters relating to the functions
of the Authority.
Speaking today, Minister Shatter said “Charities play a vitally important
role in our economy and society. It is important that we put in place a
system of regulation that supports them in playing that role as effectively
as possible, and enhances the public trust and confidence on which all
charities depend. The Charities Act is the basis for this and so I am
pleased today to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to its implementation
and give an indication of the timeframe in which we expect to achieve this.
It is intended that registered charities themselves will be asked to meet
some of the cost of their regulation through payment of a modest annual
registration fee. It is only thanks to the introduction of this measure –
which is provided for in the Charities Act – that we are now able to move
ahead with putting this regulatory system in place. We have consulted with
the charity sector on this and the fee structure to be put in place will
take account of the views expressed by charities through the consultation
process. By adopting this approach, in which the regulation of the sector
will in time become largely self-financing, I hope to be able to make
appointments to the new Authority later this year with a view to it coming
into operation in 2014.
“Transparency, accountability and good governance are at the heart of the
Charities Act. Members of the public quite rightly want to have confidence
that their donations to charity are being used as they intended. There is
much that charities themselves can do to instil this confidence. I
encourage all charities to be proactive in this, not least because in doing
so they can ensure that they are well placed to meet the requirements of
the 2009 Act as they are phased in over the coming years.
“I would like to express my thanks to all those who made submissions to the
consultation. Your informed and engaged participation in this process has
been of great benefit. I am particularly encouraged by the enduring
strength of stakeholder support for the introduction of statutory
regulation for charities. We will continue to adopt a consultative
approach during the introduction of the new regulatory requirements.”