Proposed new regulator for charities

A POWERFUL new regulator for charitable organisations will have a range of significant powers to investigate and prosecute non-compliant charities, under proposed legislation published yesterday.

The proposed new regulator is one of numerous measures included in a draft outline of the Charities Regulation Bill 2006 with which the Government is seeking to regulate the sector for the first time. The aim of an independent regulator’s office is to increase public trust in charities and will have the power to name and shame, or strike off charities completely for breaches of law.

In addition, the regulator will have the authority to “institute inquiries; to call for documents and search records; to enter premises; to suspend, remove or appoint charity trustees; to freeze charity assets; and to co-operate on an administrative basis with foreign statutory bodies on law enforcement matters”. However, the Government’s proposed bill does not include a new legal structure for charities as recommended in January by the Law Reform Commission. The Commission had warned that the various forms of organisation made it too difficult to regulate and enforce a set of rules across all charities.