Charity regulation update

As many of you will be aware, Northern Ireland now has new charity legislation in the form of the Charities Act (NI) 2008. Since the passing of the legislation in September last year, Charity Commissioners have been appointed, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has been established and now the ‘public benefit’ test guidance is to be launched for consultation.The consultation will be launched on 3 September in NICVA.

The Charity Commission will soon commence work on establishing the Register of Charities which should be ready for registrations after April 2010. It is then expected that all charities operating in Northern Ireland will have to send in their first annual returns and reports to the Charity Commission in 2011. The new rules for fundraising and collections will not come into being before 2011.

For full details on the key provisions of the new legislation, download NICVA's briefing paper on the Charities Act.

If you require any further information, please contact Denise McCann:
denise.mccann@nicva.org
028 9087 7777