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.
- Investigations and complaints
- Tax and VAT
- Sector general
- Campaigning
- Fundraising
- Data and privacy
- Children’s services
- Social enterprise
- Social investment
- Faith-based organisations
- Trade marks
- Education
Investigations and complaints
The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into St Andrew’s Healthcare. This comes after a regulatory compliance case into concerns about safeguarding provision, financial viability and wider governance, management and administration.
The Charity Commission has appointed interim managers to Barnabas Fund (also known as Barnabas Aid), which is currently under statutory inquiry due to governance and financial concerns.
Tax and VAT
Mandatory real-time reporting of Income Tax and Class 1A National Insurance contributions for certain benefits in kind and taxable expenses will now be phased in from 6 April 2027. From that date until 5 April 2028, mandatory payrolling will apply only to company cars, car fuel, vans, van fuel and medical benefits. Mandatory payrolling for most other benefits will be introduced from April 2028.
Sector general
Civil Society has highlighted various responses from the sector to Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister. While some acknowledge Starmer’s positive work on the Civil Society Covenant, recognising the vital role of the sector, others criticise his reduction of the UK aid budget.
Campaigning
As you will have seen in the press, the Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by the Home Secretary holding that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000 was lawful. Augustus Della Porta comments “The wider significance of the Court of Appeal’s judgment for the sector is in its potential chilling effect on protest and free expression. By endorsing a broad application of the Terrorism Act’s already expansive definition of terrorism, and affording substantial deference to the executive in a politically charged context, the decision risks further shrinking the space for civil society activism. For many charities, NGOs and advocacy organisations, the concern will be that the boundaries between legitimate protest, direct action and conduct capable of attracting terrorism-related sanctions have become less clear, creating uncertainty when campaigning on controversial issues.”
Fundraising
A blog from the Fundraising Regulator (FR) explains how it has created a flowchart and interactive quiz to help understand when a fundraiser may be a professional fundraiser or commercial participator and when a solicitation statement needs to be given in fundraising. Jess Beale comments that “this guidance from the FR is a welcome aid for charities looking to understand when fundraisers (internal or external) need to make a solicitation statement. While the guidance is helpful, it misses some of the nuance in this area of law, and we’d encourage charities to use this guidance as a starting point. Charities may be pleased to hear that the thresholds included in the FR’s guidance will be increased on 30 September 2026 from £10 a day to £15 a day and £1,000 a year to £1,500 a year”.
The FR has also updated its guidance on fundraising reporting requirements under the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016. This includes a few amendments to reflect upcoming changes to charity accounting and reporting thresholds (which we’ve reported on previously).
Finally, the FR is looking for feedback about user experience of the updated Code of Fundraising Practice (which became effective last November) and various support guides.
Data and privacy
A year on from the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 receiving Royal Assent, our Data and Privacy team has shared a helpful refresher of the changes to UK data protection law and developments to date.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued a statement about the UK government’s announcement about social media restrictions for under 16s, noting that keeping children safe online is one of its key priorities. Civil Society has shared reactions to the ban from across the charity sector, including comments from David Barker, the chief executive of Youth Talk, who cautioned that “it will be important to ensure that efforts to reduce harm do not inadvertently create additional barriers for young people who may be looking for help”.
Children’s services
See ‘Data and privacy’ above and ‘Education, Schools‘ below.
Social enterprise
Co‑operatives UK has reported on plans announced by Rachel Blake MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, for the government to appoint a new “champion” for co‑operatives and mutuals. The role is intended to “raise the sector’s profile and represent the interests of co‑operatives and mutuals across government”, as part of the government’s commitment to double the size of the sector.
The government has announced a new £61m Community Right to Buy Fund, building on its wider Pride in Place programme. The aim of the fund is to provide “people in deprived areas [with] the money they need to step in and take over community assets at risk of closure”, supporting the development of community businesses. Co‑operatives UK welcomed the announcement and highlighted the need to consider complementary funding arrangements and development support.
Social Enterprise UK has highlighted the launch of two new reports published by the Social, Cooperative and Community Economy All‑Party Parliamentary Group at the House of Lords last week. The reports set out recommendations for how the government can better support social enterprises. The first report, ‘Accelerating NHS reform – levelling the playing field to unlock social enterprises’, focuses on the structural barriers faced by social enterprises delivering health and care services and the role they could play as a “central delivery partner” in NHS reform. The second report, ‘A £400bn opportunity – unlocking social value for a fairer, more resilient UK’, considers why public procurement is “still not consistently delivering social value” despite existing legislation.
Social investment
Social Investment Business has reported on research findings regarding energy costs for charities, highlighting that charity and small business electricity costs have risen 12% in recent months. The article notes that “energy efficiency improvements in offices and shops are progressing at twice the rate of those in community buildings”, suggesting that this represents an opportunity for targeted investment in energy efficiency measures to help futureproof community spaces.
The Pathway Fund, which works to get more funding to organisations led by people from Black and Ethnically Minoritised communities, has announced the members of its Social Investment Committee that will “oversee Pathway’s social investment and grant-making approach and operations”. The announcement states that the committee has been appointed to reflect a balance of skills and expertise that “brings lived experience of the communities Pathway exists to serve”.
Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Global Impact has published a report on the ‘true cost’ of impact‑first investing, examining the resources required to support early-stage social enterprises. Drawing on a study of eight impact-first investment organisations managing $197.2m of assets across 362 investments, the report finds that delivering impact-led returns often involves “higher costs” linked to due diligence, capacity building, and ongoing support. The report seeks to challenge “one of the sector’s most persistent myths” that such funds are inefficient, arguing that these costs reflect “the cost of inclusion” that is both systematically undervalued by the market and necessary for systems change.
Impact Europe has also published a recap of discussions at its recent Catalysing Philanthropic Capital panel. The article notes panellists’ emphasis on the distinctive role of catalytic capital in providing patience and convening power. It highlights key comments and examples raised, including from Seb Ellsworth, CEO of Access – the Foundation for Social Investment, stating that foundations should focus on what others cannot fund and avoid grant-making that undermines organisations’ ability to build sustainable income. Impact Europe has published an update on its EU Funding Watch page, which aims to provide a centralised overview of funding, that may be relevant for organisations interested in EU funding opportunities.
Faith-based organisations
See below under ‘Education, General‘.
Our update from Aisha Choudhry shares guidance for faith-based organisations about being a sponsor licence holder, following changes to the UK Visas and Immigration sponsor guidance in March.
Trade marks
Join us on 7 July for our webinar on resolving trade mark disputes for charities, led by Mathew Healey and Mindy Jhittay.
Education
See above under ‘Data and privacy‘.
General
The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that local areas will begin increasing access to specialist support from September 2026, as part of the rollout of its new Experts at Hand service for children and young people with SEND.
The DfE has launched a call for evidence to inform an independent review into antisemitism in schools and colleges in England, seeking views to support recommendations on how to prevent, identify and respond to antisemitism and other forms of prejudice. The call for evidence closes on 1 July 2026.
Early years
The DfE is running consultation on the future of early years teaching, including proposals relating to early years initial teacher training, Qualified Teacher Status and arrangements for existing Early Years Teacher Status holders. The consultation closes on 24 September 2026.
Schools
The DfE has also launched a call for evidence on children’s screen use (ages 5–16) to inform new parental guidance and future policy on screen use in schools. This closes on 29 June 2026.
The DfE has published an updated Buying for Schools blog on the tools and resources available to help schools and trusts review their banking arrangements, including its Banking Comparison Tool and updated guidance on savings platforms.
Schools Week reports that a survey of 100 headteachers inspected under Ofsted’s new report card framework found largely negative views, with leaders raising concerns about wellbeing and the inspection experience.
Further Education
The DfE is inviting further education practitioners to take part in a virtual roundtable on sustainability and climate action in further education settings, organised with the Climate Ambassadors programme. The session will take place on 15 July 2026, with discussion focused on embedding sustainability into teaching, learning and operations. Register your expression of interest to take part.
Higher Education
Finally, the DfE has launched a consultation on the Office for Students’ fee charging model, seeking views on proposed changes to the Annual Registration Fee and other fees for higher education providers. The consultation closes on 21 July 2026.
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.