NICVA will be publishing a position paper in due course but notes at this stage that the draft Bill does not include proposals to increase the audit threshold for Charities in N.Ireland which is disappointing. The draft Bill concentrates mainly on proposals to implement the recommendations of the Independent Review of Charity Regulation from 2021. The draft Bill proposes:
New powers for the Charity Commission
- Broaden the power of the Commission to share information with any person or organisation carrying out public or regulatory functions rather than just public bodies or office-holders.
- Introduce a new power for the Commission to issue official warnings to charities or their trustees where there has been misconduct, mismanagement or a breach of trust or duty.
- Expand the scope of the current power to remove trustees to include those trustees who have resigned from office
- Introduce a new power for the Commission to issue directions to trustees not to undertake certain actions.
- Extend the automatic disqualification for being a trustee to officers, agent or employees following an inquiry.
To change the reporting requirements for charities preparing receipts and payments (R&P) accounts by:
- Allowing the Commission to grant dispensation from preparing accruals accounts to a charity that exceeds the £250,000 threshold due to exceptional, one-off income
- Allowing the Department to prescribe the format and content of receipts and payments accounts, including the statement of assets and liabilities
- To introduce the requirement to provide values for assets and liabilities
To introduce a simplified reporting framework for very small charities
Allow for the introduction of a simplified reporting framework for those charities eligible to prepare receipts and payments accounts with an income under £20,000 and £100,000 assets including:
- Introduce a simplified digital form of statement of accounts and allow for template reporting
- remove the requirement to file annual statement of accounts
- remove the requirement to carry out an independent examination
To repeal Section 167
This is applicable to charities that operate in NI but which are already registered with the Charities Regulatory Authority in the South or with the Charity Commission for England and Wales or with OSCR in Scotland.
The Department has decided to repeal Section 167 as registration under this section would not confer charitable status under N.Ireland legislation and it would not resolve existing funding or tax issues for charities operating in N.Ireland.
Consultation
NICVA will be holding on online seminar to hear views from our members on Monday 20 April. To register please see
NICVA seminar on DFC consultation on Charities (Amendment) Bill 2026 | NICVA
The full consultation document and link to the online questionnaire can be found at the following link. Please note that the closing date for responses is 24 April 2026
