Our weekly round up of news and updates from across the sector.

To help you navigate this week’s content, the links below will take you straight to content by topic.

Charity Commission

We reported a few weeks ago that the Charity Commission’s guidance CC30, Finding and appointing new trustees, has been updated. We’ve reviewed the changes in more detail and found a few key differences, particularly around encouraging diversity on the board. For instance, the previous version had more positive content on the advantages of a diverse board, including a headline “Should a charity aim to have a diverse trustee board? Yes.” This updated version is more equivocal, “Separately from [a] skills audit, you can also consider the mix of backgrounds, characteristics and perspectives on your trustee board.” (emphasis added). Disappointingly they have removed the helpful section making clear that people with learning difficulties or other mental health issues can be trustees. The updated guidance has a shorter section saying, “Trustees must be people who are considered capable of managing their own affairs”. This may lead people to the conclusion that those with learning difficulties cannot be trustees, which is absolutely not the case. There was not an open consultation on this guidance and it is unclear from the press release whether any stakeholder groups were involved in the redrafting.

Volunteers’ Week

To celebrate last week’s Volunteers’ Week, Charity Commission Interim Chair Mark Simms OBE has posted a blog thanking volunteers and the Commission has shared a series of posts on X to address some common myths about being a charity trustee. Simms’ blog includes links to find volunteering opportunities and notes that volunteering “represents people at their best — choosing to act not for profit or attention, but because they believe in helping others.”

Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) consultation

The Charity Commission has shared a blog from the Joint Chairs of the Charities SORP Committee with updates from the consultation on the draft SORP. This flags that there are new requirements, originating from accounting standards, which cannot be changed, mainly relating to leases and income charities receive under contracts with customers. It also highlights they are proposing changes to the Trustees’ Annual Report. The consultation closes on 20 June.

See Investigations and complaints below.

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Investigations and complaints

The Charity Commission has issued an Official Warning to Palestinian Refugee Project after finding one of the trustees (who was also the charity’s voluntary CEO) had sole responsibility for the charity’s social media and used it to promote political material which “was not in furtherance of the charity’s aims, and/or was divisive and inflammatory”. The regulatory compliance case is ongoing and actions the Commission has taken so far include: disqualifying the trustee/CEO from being a trustee or holding a senior management position in any charity for eight years; and asking the charity to implement an adequate social media policy. Joshua Farbridge, Head of Compliance Visits and Inspections at the Charity Commission, commented “It’s important to stress that the Commission does not seek to encroach on any individual’s right to freedom of speech, expression, or beliefs. And we recognise that events in the Middle East over recent months and years have been deeply emotive and distressing. However, trustees have clear legal obligations, including to act in line with the charity’s purpose and best interests, and act reasonably and prudently”.

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Sector general

NPC has published a blog, What do you do when your impact isn’t measurable?, with 4 key top tips.

Bates Wells Partner Suhan Rajkumar will be speaking at this free NPC event, Achieving impact in a challenging financial context, on 8 July.

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Climate change and environment

See Social enterprise news below.

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Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion

Liberty, the human rights organisation, has been denied permission to challenge the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the length of its consultation on its Code of practice for services, public functions and associations (the Code). It had issued a claim in the High Court arguing that the EHRC’s six-week consultation period on the Code is insufficient and ‘so unfair as to be unlawful’. This claim has been denied and Liberty has now appealed to the Court of Appeal. Liberty’s original argument is that the short period breaches the EHRC’s statutory duties and fails to provide individuals and businesses with adequate time to respond. Liberty proposes that a minimum consultation period of 12 weeks on the Code is necessary, particularly given the “life-changing implications” of the updated Code for transgender people and those perceived as not conforming to gender norms. This Administrative Court blog provides an analysis of the High Court’s reasons for refusing Liberty’s challenge.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson has been named as the government’s preferred candidate for the Chair of the EHRC with Baroness Falkner’s term as the current chair due to end on 30 November. Dr Stephenson will appear in front of 2 parliamentary committees (Women and Equalities Select Committee and Joint Committee on Human Rights) ahead of any confirmation of appointment.

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Funders and funding

On 30 June NPC is running a free online event discussing the ways funders can increase their impact by taking a ‘whole asset’ approach – not just via grants. A funder can use their endowment to provide impact investments or catalytic capital and use other assets too, such as brand, reputation, and power.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has shared the government’s strategy for the Dormant Assets Scheme (which seeks to redistribute dormant assets to create positive change for communities in the UK) over the next four years. It is estimated that £440 million (an increase of £90 million to the government’s previous estimate) will be allocated across the areas of youth (£132.5 million), financial inclusion (£132.5 million), social investment (£87.5 million), and community wealth funds (£87.5 million) between 2024 to 2028. The strategy outlines the priorities in each of these areas. Civil Society has published an article with positive reactions from the sector to the government’s announcement.

The second edition of the Directory of Social Change’s Grants for Good report has been released. The research focuses on local authority grant-making to the VCSE sector and has found that UK local authorities awarded around £600 million in grants to the VCSE sector in 2023/24, but due to inflation there was a real-terms reduction in the typical grant funding available. This is set against the backdrop of many local authorities facing financial hardship. Civil Society has shared an article about this research, including comments from the Local Government Association and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

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Fundraising

The Fundraising Regulator (FR) has announced plans to change the way it reports on fundraising complaints data from charities, in response to a survey it ran in 2023. The FR will publish its Annual Complaints Report for 2024 as normal, then it will pause reporting for around two years. During this pause, the FR will develop a new approach. It plans to separate its reporting on fundraising complaints from charities from its analysis of complaints received from the public. It will also expand its focus to charities of all sizes and present its findings in a more accessible way.

A recent speech from Sarah Gardner (Deputy Chief Executive) of the Gambling Commission to the Lotteries Council Annual Conference 2025 includes various updates about the lottery sector and celebrates that society lottery proceeds exceeded £1 billion for the first time in 2023/24. Gardner also noted that, in recent years, the Gambling Commission has not needed to use its compliance powers in relation to lotteries. Bates Wells Molly Carew-Jones comments that “It’s great to see the Gambling Commission celebrating the impact that society lotteries have and the important role they play in raising funds for charitable causes. We are also pleased to see the Gambling Commission promoting a collaborative approach to regulation, with a focus on tackling illegal lotteries, draws and competitions and no recent instances of regulatory action against licensed lottery operators.”

The Fundraising Regulator has published new advice for retailers on carrying out charitable cash collections. The advice is aimed at all retailers which allow charitable cash collections on their premises (known as “private site” collections) and covers the steps to take before, during and after a cash collection to ensure that collections are carried out safely and securely for donors, fundraisers and in-store colleagues.

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Volunteering

Research commissioned by the Royal Voluntary Service and carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research has found that over 140 million hours of employee volunteer time went unused last year. It estimates that there could be productivity gains worth £32.5 billion per year if the days were fully utilised.

The Access Group has shared findings from its research into volunteering, which examines interest in volunteering and employee volunteering opportunities in sectors and regions across the UK.

See Charity Commission above.

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Advertising

The Committee of Advertising Practice has issued advice on the use of AI in advertising. It confirms that there are not AI specific rules in existing advertising codes (CAP and BCAP). Nor is there a legal requirement to disclose use of AI in adverts. However, global developments – such as the EU’s AI Act and industry initiatives (such as these principles) are encouraging responsible and transparent use of AI in advertising. The article discusses when and how to disclose the use of AI and reminds us that the key question is whether AI use could mislead consumers, so advertisers should assess whether AI materially alters the message and whether disclosure of its use clarifies or confuses.

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Data and privacy

See AI below.

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AI

The Information Commissioner has announced the launch of a new AI and biometrics strategy aimed at “providing support to organisations developing and deploying new technologies while ensuring the public is safeguarded”. The strategy describes how the Information Commissioner’s Office will:

  • Set clear expectations for responsible AI through a statutory code of practice for organisations developing or deploying AI and automated decision-making (ADM).
  • Work with developers to ensure they use people’s information responsibly and lawfully when training generative AI (GenAI) foundation models.
  • Ensure ADM systems are governed and used in a way that is fair to people, with a primary focus on recruitment and public services.

The Local Government Association has published State of the sector: Artificial intelligence – 2025 update revisiting its 2024 survey on AI use in English local authorities. Key findings from the survey include that:

  • Generative AI was the most adopted type being used or explored by respondents at 83%, perceptive AI was adopted by 28%, and predictive AI was used by 20%.
  • The functions where respondents were using or exploring AI most commonly were: corporate council (84%), adult health and social care (44%) and children’s health and social care (31%).
  • The areas where most respondents had realised benefits from using AI were staff productivity (36%), service efficiencies (33%) and cost savings (21%).

Separately, an AI trial carried out by 20,000 civil servants over a 3 month period has found that using generative AI tools, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, to assist with everyday administrative tasks saved users an average of 26 minutes per day. Tasks included drafting documents, summarising lengthy emails, updating records and preparing reports.

See Advertising above and Education below.

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Company law

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

We’ve previously reported on changes coming in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 which mean people with significant control (PSCs) and company directors (along with certain other people involved with companies) will need to verify their identities with Companies House. We’ve heard that Companies House has started sending out communications to companies explaining the different options for verifying identities (including online, in person at selected Post Offices, or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider). Identity verification will become mandatory for certain directors and PSCs in autumn 2025, and people are encouraged to prepare for this by voluntarily verifying their identity now. For more information, we have a blog about the timeline for these changes and Companies House has guidance on identity verification.

Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (Annotation) Regulations 2025/573

The Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships (Annotation) Regulations 2025/573 partially came into force on 9 June 2025. These give new powers to (and requirements for) Companies House to annotate the register of companies, with the aim of increasing insight and transparency over companies. Companies House now has discretion to annotate the company register to show that (a) a director is subject to disqualification sanctions (b) someone has failed to comply with a notice requiring them to provide certain information and (c) Companies House intends to take (or has taken) steps to strike a company off the register. A regulation relating to annotating information about PSCs with protected information will be brought into force at a later date.

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Scotland

From 30 June, OSCR will start collecting information about charity trustees through OSCR Online. Any charity completing a new online annual return created on or after 30 June will have to provide trustee information when submitting this return. From late 2025, OSCR will start displaying trustee names on the Scottish Charity Register and publishing full annual reports and accounts. Also from 30 June, trustees will be able to apply for an exemption to their name being published if there is a risk to their personal safety or security. These changes are coming into effect under the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023.

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Northern Ireland

The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland has launched a new series of ‘Running your charity’ guides (replacing its previous guidance on this topic). These new guides cover the trustee role, understanding and demonstrating public benefit, finance, fundraising, updating and reporting, and governance and risk management.

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Health and social care

The Royal College of Nursing has released a report into the challenges faced by internationally educated nursing staff, including the reasons why they are leaving the UK.

Civil Society has reported on a poll about NHS commissioning from Yonder Consulting on behalf of Skills for Health. 83% of 2,083 people polled felt that “organisations which prioritise social purpose over profit should be the NHS’s primary partners when it comes to the supply of goods and services” and 63% agreed the NHS should take active steps to work with more suppliers from the third sector.

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Social enterprise news

Social enterprise leaders tell MPs startup life tougher than ever. Social Enterprise UK has summarised some of the views presented by stakeholders at the second roundtable of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Social, Cooperative and Community Economy, as part of the APPG’s ongoing inquiry into growing diverse business models.

Plunkett UK, a charity that supports community-owned businesses in rural areas, has published its 2025 Impact Report. It notes that 2 million people currently benefit from rural community businesses, which are generating a combined turnover of £166 million. Further, approximately 25,000 volunteers were engaged by rural community businesses in 2024 and 96% of rural community businesses took some form of climate action in the last year.

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Social investment news

UK development finance institution and impact investor British International Investment (BII) and Standard Chartered, a British multinational bank, have announced the signing of a US$100 million trade finance programme that aims to support trade finance and capital needs across various sectors in Kenya and Tanzania. The facility is expected to generate over US$450 million in gross transactions over its lifetime and qualifies under the ‘2X Challenge’ to advance gender equality and the economic empowerment of women.

BII has also announced a new funding partnership with PROPARCO and Dutch development bank FMO to expand the reach of the ‘Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator’ (ARIA). PROPARCO is the private sector financing arm of the Agence française de développement Group. ARIA will extend its footprint to two new countries and intensify its focus on pre-investment technical assistance, to increase support for businesses in emerging markets.

Impact Europe has written a short piece describing the ‘4Ps model’: Public-Private-Philanthropic Partnerships. The article notes the current, growing interest in this model as an approach for systems change and highlights an important role for catalytic capital in using this model.

5 key learnings from social entrepreneurs. Good Finance shares learnings from a ‘Hear from a Peer’ panel event at Good Finance Live, hosted by Good Finance in partnership with Access foundation, Better Society Capital and Pathway Fund. The article considers the key themes discussed, including continued systemic barriers affecting Black and racialised-led and community-based organisations and that the investment process can reinforce inequities.

Philanthropy Impact Magazine has published the second part (of three) of its Spring 2025 edition, on the theme of ‘Redefining Giving and Investing for Impact – Building the Impact Economy: How innovative models are revolutionising philanthropy and impact investing’. Following on from part 1 of the issue, which we included in last week’s Briefing, this part of the issue focuses on unlocking capital and collaboration, showcasing case studies from the frontlines of the impact economy (press release).

GSG Impact has published a detailed report, Impact Economies Traction & Trends, on the global impact economy landscape (summary and press release). The report analyses trends across 34 GSG National Partners, providing insights into government actions, the role of market-building groups and impact investing ‘wholesalers’, and contributions to the UNSDGs. Among other points, the report finds that impact investing has transitioned from a niche practice to a mainstream investment strategy, increasingly embedded into governments’ development plans and policy agendas, with more institutional and retail capital being deployed toward impact, more use of outcomes-based financing, green and sustainability-linked bonds becoming mainstream instruments, and advances being made in global sustainability disclosure standards. The report aims to share learnings between participants and across borders.

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) has published a short paper on Impact Investing in the Forestry Sector, drawing on global data from GIIN’s forestry impact performance benchmark and interviews with impact investors (press release). The paper highlights increasing interest in the forestry sector and makes recommendations for advancing impact investment practice in this space.

See Funders and funding above.

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International development

Bond has shared its thoughts about public support for UK aid and development, in light of the government’s decision to cut the aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% of gross national income.

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Education

General

In 2023, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introduced a new framework for their inspection of local area services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They have now published the outcomes of their 2025 review of this framework. Key actions that Ofsted has committed to include: enhancing the experience of inspections, improving the clarity and impact of reporting, and a commitment to continuously developing the knowledge and skills of the area SEND workforce. Alongside the outcomes, Ofsted has also published a report summarising findings from the first two years of inspections under its current framework. The press release states that, “In the longer term, Ofsted and CQC will also consider options for further developing the area SEND framework, including exploring the introduction of an inspection report card after the first cycle of inspections ends in December 2027”.

The National Director of Ofsted Academy, Matthew Purves, has written an article on Ofsted’s new approach to mental health and well-being following Ofsted’s acceptance of the findings and recommendations of the coroner’s inquest into the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in full. The article outlines the changes that Ofsted has made to inspection processes and inspector training, as well as the further training and development it will continue to undertake as a result of its ongoing relationship with Mental Health First Aid England.

Schools

The Department for Education (DfE) has published its census data on schools and pupil characteristics for the 2024/25 academic year. Key findings include that the total number of pupils across all school types has decreased by 0.7 per cent to just over 9 million pupils and the number of pupils eligible for free school meals has increased from 24.6 per cent to 25.7 per cent.

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) has published its 2025 census and annual report, based on a survey carried out in January 2025 of 1,423 ISC member schools. The report finds that there nearly 11,000 fewer pupils at ISC member schools, which is a reduction of 2 per cent when compared with 2024, despite a net increase of 12 in the number of ISC member schools. It also reveals that over 1 in 5 pupils are identified as having SEND and of the 1,423 ISC member schools, 1,179 are co-ed schools, 151 are girls’ schools and 93 are boys’ schools.

The DfE has announced that all pupils whose household is on Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals from the start of the 2026 school year. The DfE estimates that this expansion will provide over half a million school aged pupils with free meals and it intends to “lift 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty”.

The Prime Minister has announced a new skills programme to provide pupils with the skills and tools needed to obtained AI-powered jobs. The programme includes a new £187 million “TechFirst” programme that is aimed at bringing AI learning into classrooms and communities, and a new online platform that will be designed to educate students about computing and tech-based careers.

Higher Education

The Office for Students (OfS) has opened a call for evidence on regional access partnerships. It is seeking views on “how best to create new regional access partnerships that bring together all higher education providers in a region with access and participation plans, to assess the local risks to equality of opportunity and coordinate efforts to address them”. The call for evidence closes on Friday 18 July.

OfS Director of Strategy and Delivery, Josh Fleming, has published a blog post outlining the OfS’ position on AI.

OfS Head of Student Outcomes, Graeme Rosenberg, has written about developments in OfS’ future approach to assessing the quality of higher education.

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Disclaimer – The information contained in this update is not intended to be a comprehensive update – it is our selection of the website announcements made in the week up to last Friday which we think will be of interest to charities and social enterprises. The views expressed in items we’ve included are the views of the named authors/sources, and should not be taken to be the views of Bates Wells, its partners or employees. The content in this update is necessarily of a general nature – specific advice should always be sought for specific situations.