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
- Investigations and complaints
- Governance
- Tax and VAT
- Sector General
- Banking
- Climate change and environment
- Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
- Funders and funding
- Fundraising
- Data and privacy
- Health and social care
- Social enterprise
- Social investment / social impact investment
- Faith based organisations
- Culture and creative
- Education
Charity Commission
Podcast
The Charity Commission’s CEO, David Holdsworth, has spoken on the Civil Society Podcast (available on Spotify and other streaming platforms) discussing a range of issues.
Investigations and complaints
The Charity Commission has published its inquiry report into The Professional Footballers’ Association Charity. The charity had a long-standing close relationship with The Professional Footballers’ Association (a trade union). The Commission found various failures related to this relationship. Trustees have since implemented changes to ensure a proper separation of the charity from the union. The Commission suspended and then disqualified one trustee under section 181 of the Charities Act 2011.
Governance
New Philanthropy Capital has published a blog outlining what the updated SORP guidelines mean for trustees, specifically new expectations around impact and sustainability reporting. The blog sets out five building blocks for strong impact measurement and management practice, including a clear theory of change, the use of mixed data and evidence, proportionate approaches to evidence, and systems for acting on learning.
Tax and VAT
The government’s announcement last week of a reduction in VAT on family activities over the summer is wide enough to benefit charities charging admission fees to museums and heritage sites (where these are not subject to VAT exemption), charities selling tickets for the cinema and theatre as well as charities selling children’s meals (sports facilities are not included but some are already exempt from VAT). This government fact sheet lists the full range of activities that will be included in the 20% to 5% VAT reduction which will run from June to 1 September 2026. Bates Wells Head of Tax Vikki Watts advises “Charities will need to consider how best to benefit from the reduced rates, by identifying supplies which can be reduced, and updating systems to allow for the change. They will also need to consider whether to pass this reduction on to customers, together with the wider impact of any reductions, for example on the ability to claim Gift Aid on admissions under the reduced pricing”.
Sector general
Charities Aid Foundation has published its UK Local Giving Report 2026. This found that people “are twice as likely to donate locally and three times as likely to volunteer” when they see charities making a positive impact in their local community.
Banking
Civil Society has reported on an early day motion tabled in Parliament calling on the government “to work urgently with the Financial Conduct Authority and UK banks to improve banking services for charities”.
Climate change and environment
The government has announced a £30 million “Wildlife-Rich Habitat Fund” to deliver “thousands of hectares of new habitat across England’s National Parks, National Landscapes, and the Broads over three years”.
Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
As you’ve probably seen in the press, last week the Government published the updated draft Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations with this accompanying press release. Bates Wells partners Suhan Rajkumar and Mindy Jhittay have both been looking at the hugely long and detailed Code and have shared this initial comment
“This draft Code will be hugely significant for charities once approved, because although it does not change the law, courts and tribunals must take it into account when deciding challenges. The draft Code retains many of the headlines of the version consulted on by the EHRC last year – including a steer that following the Supreme Court decision, single-sex services (if provided) must be on the basis of biological sex, and that inclusive provision of services (for e.g. women and trans women) “could also be unlawful”, while continuing to recognise the protection that trans people have under the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. However the draft has also changed materially in a number of aspects, including in its steer on practical application – for example recognising the practical and legal complexities in asking service users about biological sex, and suggesting that it will be unlikely to be appropriate to do so for ancillary services (such as access to toilets). For charities, the real task now will be to apply the statutory tests (and the Code once finalised) carefully and calmly – identifying a legitimate aim, assessing proportionality and making evidence-based decisions. The draft Code places an emphasis on assessing the impact of decisions on all service users. Blanket policies will often be at greater risk of challenge than carefully reasoned fact-specific decisions – where charities can take the opportunity to act with kindness, tolerance and respect for everyone affected.”
For advice on how the draft Code may impact your organisation, please speak to your usual Bates Wells contact or Suhan or Mindy.
The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee has published its report, Employment support for disabled people: Disability at Work. The report includes a call for a two-week legal deadline for employers to respond to requests for reasonable adjustments from disabled workers.
Funders and funding
The Institute for Voluntary Action Research has published its Funding Experience Survey 2026 of over 1,200 people working in UK charities. It found that while unrestricted funding (59%) and multi‑year grants (51%) are the practices charities value most, they are among the least commonly experienced.
Fundraising
The Gambling Commission’s Director of Policy, Ian Angus, gave a speech about society lotteries at the Lotteries Council Annual Conference, noting recent figures show this is the “second most popular form of gambling in Great Britain”.
Data and privacy
The Information Commissioner’s Office has reminded businesses across the UK that they have less than one month to put a data protection complaints process in place, before new legal requirements come into force on 19 June 2026. Bates Wells Head of Data & Privacy Rayhaan Vankalwala comments “We can advise on the development of complaints processes including how privacy policies and similar documents should be updated and how businesses should handle complaints practically and within appropriate timeframes”.
Health and social care
See below under Education, General.
Social enterprise
The think tank and consultancy NPC has published a blog proposing a shared framework for a more joined‑up impact economy, aimed at improving how capital, policy and practice support organisations delivering social and environmental impact. The blog suggests that clearer segmentation of organisations and their funding needs could help unlock capital, strengthen partnerships and enable more effective investment across the system.
Bond, the UK network for organisations working in international development, has published an opinion piece by The Corporate Justice Coalition that argues that current UK legislation is insufficient to hold businesses accountable for human rights and environmental harms across global supply chains. The article describes the coalition’s intention to publish a new iteration of its proposal for a UK Business, Human Rights and Environment Act, including mandatory due diligence requirements and measures to improve access to justice for affected communities. This piece may be relevant to social enterprises interested in advocacy around supply chain impact and sustainability.
Social investment / social impact investment
Good Finance has published a blog bringing together perspectives from sector practitioners on the role of AI in social investment, focusing on practical use cases and emerging risks. The blog highlights a range of uses for AI, including application drafting, financial modelling, and impact reporting.
Responsible Finance has published a response to the King’s Speech (13 May 2026), positioning some the proposed legislation announced in the speech as an opportunity to strengthen community finance and expand access to affordable credit. The response highlights the role of Community Development Finance Institutions in supporting underserved individuals, businesses and social enterprises, and calls for increased support, partnerships and regulatory reform to scale the sector.
Faith based organisations
The £23 million Places of Worship Renewal Fund has opened for applications.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025 and represents one of the most significant reforms to the private rented sector in decades. In this update, we set out suggested preparatory steps for any faith-based organisations and charities providing housing or accommodation as part of their mission.
Culture and creative
See above under Tax and VAT.
The £15 million Heritage at Risk Capital Fund and £10 million Heritage Revival Fund have opened to applications.
Education
General
The Department for Education (DfE) has published the ‘Implementation Plan for Children’s Social Care’, setting out next steps for children’s social care reforms. The plan follows the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 and includes reforms such as new multi-agency child protection teams and support for kinship carers.
Schools
DfE has published statutory guidance ‘Opening new schools’, which will come into force on 1 September. The free school presumption guidance applies until this date. The new guidance describes the process for establishing new schools and notes the government’s expectation is that new schools will ultimately join or form high-quality trusts.
DfE has announced an investment of £1 billion in school sport over the next three years, including for a new PE and Schools Partnerships Network, improvements to school sports facilities and support for primary schools. The Network aims to bring national sporting expertise into every primary and secondary school to tackle inactivity.
National Foundation for Educational Research has published a report ‘High-SEND schools: Patterns and pressures in mainstream provision’. The report found, among other points, that some inclusive schools become known as places that will “make it work”, shaping parental choice and local authority placement decisions.
Ofsted has published analysis of the ‘achievement’ grade, attainment data and schools in challenging circumstances since the renewed education inspection framework came into use in November 2025. The analysis found that there is a relationship between the level of disadvantage in a school and the school’s grade for the ‘achievement’ evaluation area, but noted that 57% of schools with above average pupils eligible for free school meals have been graded ‘expected standard’ or better so far.
The Education Secretary has launched a new International SEND Alliance, for which she has called on countries to share experiences and proven approaches, and agree clear action plans with a shared mission to deliver opportunity for all children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Further Education
DfE has published guidance ‘Post-16 pathways: implementation plan’, which sets out how the changes to the technical and vocational qualifications will be delivered. The plan is aimed at those involved in delivering the pathways, such as schools, employers and local authorities. One of the key changes is to transition from exclusive single licences and towards an Ofqual-regulated market model.
DfE has announced £96 million of regional funding to create placements for aspiring construction workers. The funding aims to provide hands-on learning and increase employability for learners as the construction industry faces significant shortages.
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.