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
- Tax and VAT
- Autumn Budget
- Sector General
- Climate change and environment
- Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
- Safeguarding
- Philanthropy
- Data and Privacy
- AI and Technology
- Company Law
- Homelessness
- Faith-based organisations
- Education
Charity Commission
Consultation on new powers
As we’ve previously reported, the Government is consulting on proposals to strengthen the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle extremism and other abuse in charities, with a particular focus on its ability to disqualify individuals from acting as trustees and senior managers. If you’d like to find out more, join us for a one-hour webinar on 5 November. Augustus Della-Porta and Ted Loveday will take you through the proposals, what charities should be aware of, and the wider implications of the proposed changes, as well as the issues charities may want to consider if responding to the consultation.
31 October filing deadline
Many charities’ annual returns for the 2025 calendar year are due on 31 October. To help charities meet the deadline, the Commission’s contact centre will be open for extended hours from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October (8am to 6pm) and on Saturday 31 October (9am to 1pm).
Tax and VAT
HMRC has issued revised guidance on the checks that charities should carry out when making payments to individual and overseas recipients. Significantly, these extend the level of due diligence which will be required in many cases, along with clarifying what HMRC will expect to see in situations where payments are made in more complex circumstances. Vikki Watts comments “As this is an area where we are seeing increased scrutiny from HMRC, it’s important that charities consider these updates and ensure that the processes in place are robust and sufficient to protect against any challenge to the decisions.”
Autumn Budget
The government has trailed that, as part of the Budget:
- There will be additional funding of £432 million to tackle rough sleeping and extend support beyond March 2027 through to the end of this Parliament; and
- the Prime Minister will set out plans to reform the government’s ‘Green Book’, which is the official framework used to assess business cases for spending projects across the UK. Currently, projects on different issues, for example a housing scheme or transport proposal, are considered independently of each other. Under the reforms, local and strategic authorities will be able to build investment plans around a more holistic picture of their local economy.
Sector General
The Civil Society Council met with the Prime Minister on 15th October – you can read a summary of the issues discussed.
The government is investing up to £1 million over the next 3 years to fund a new Victim and Survivor Advisory Panel aimed at giving survivors of child sexual abuse and exploitation a forum to share their experiences, insights and recommendations directly with government.
UK Finance has published its first Charity Banking Report 2026, which highlights the practical challenges charities face accessing and using banking, particularly given their distinct governance structures and operations. The report calls for mutual understanding, alongside robust governance, due diligence and financial controls to reduce friction and improve access to banking services.
Climate change and environment
See this press release for details of the first meeting of the UK’s Climate and Nature Security Taskforce.
Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
See below under Faith based organisations.
Safeguarding
See above under Sector general and below under Education, Schools.
Philanthropy
In July, NPC published The invisible field report about how work supporting boys and young men is recognised and funded. In this more recent blog, NPC’s Director of Philanthropy, Alex Hayes, sets out a project to convene funders and philanthropists to explore where boys and young men already feature within funding portfolios, what holds back more intentional investment, and where there may be opportunities for better coordination and collaboration. There is also a free online event on 12th November.
Data and Privacy
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued reprimands to two Welsh organisations following a ransomware attack during which the personal information of 3,300 people was taken, the majority of whom were children. The attack gained access via a test account protected by the password ‘Password1’. Rayhaan Vankalwala comments “These reprimands represent further evidence of a concerted effort from the ICO to improve standards of data security across all types of organisations. It is becoming increasingly apparent that, while the ICO accepts that accidents and mistakes can happen, organisations should be implementing a minimum standard of security measures to protect the personal data that they hold against the risk of personal data breaches: such measures are likely to include: multi-factor authentication, strong password requirements, regular reviews of account security (e.g. penetration testing) and organisational measures so that it is clear who within an organisation is responsible for cybersecurity (including when services are outsourced). The ICO seems to consider these to be basic measures that will be expected of almost all organisations, regardless of their size”.
AI and Technology
Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland has published its annual Boardroom Bellwether report highlighting charities are “far behind” companies on cybersecurity preparedness and AI capability. Among charities surveyed, 42% reported ‘limited or non-existent’ preparedness for a cyber-attack and 76% mentioned ‘limited or absent’ AI capability at board level.
The Law Society has published a new practice note on using AI in legal practice. It aims to help solicitors decide whether, when and how AI can be used safely, responsibly and consistently. A range of practical topics are covered, including the risks associated with different types of AI, how existing regulatory duties apply, and the impact of AI on confidentiality, privilege, data protection, insurance and cyber security.
The Artificial Intelligence (Consent and Misuse) Bill has been introduced to Parliament as a Private Member’s Bill. It would require consent before generating AI likenesses of individuals, create civil remedies for non-compliance, establish criminal offences for creating or disseminating such likenesses without consent, and impose duties on AI providers regarding misuse prevention.
We have recently launched Innovate for Impact – our webinar series for charities using technology for good. If you’d like to join Mark Abbott and Olivia Hyland for our first session – AI and charity governance: decision-making in an AI-driven world on 19 November 2026 please sign up here.
Company Law
Following recommendations of the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, the government says it has decided to pause implementing the requirement for small and micro entities to file profit and loss accounts with Companies House from April 2028.
Homelessness
See above under Autumn Budget.
Last week the Prime Minister hosted a Rough Sleeping Summit at Downing Street, bringing together businesses, charities, housing providers and local leaders. This press release about the summit also includes details of charity, faith based and corporate partnerships aimed at supporting the aim of offering everyone sleeping rough “a route off the street or wider support before Christmas”.
Faith-based organisations
See above under Homelessness.
The government has accepted all 27 recommendations from Sir David Bell’s review of antisemitism in schools and colleges. Its response includes dedicated training for education leaders, stronger safeguarding and political impartiality guidance, improved incident reporting and support for complex cases. Schools and colleges will be encouraged to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, and an implementation group will oversee delivery while Sir David conducts a one-year progress review.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed challenges to Twyford Church of England High School’s faith-based oversubscription policy under which an additional point is awarded where a family’s main place of worship is a Church of England church, or a church in communion with it. While accepting that this policy did place non-white, non-English families at a “particular disadvantage”, it held that this was a proportionate means of preserving the school’s Anglican character and ethos. The Court rejected the argument that faith-based criteria are exempt from indirect race discrimination claims, confirming that such criteria remain subject to justification under the Equality Act 2010.
Education
General
Simon Ridley has been appointed as the next Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education, succeeding Susan Acland-Hood, who is leaving for a role outside government. Ridley, currently Second Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, will take up the post in November.
Skills Minister Jacqui Smith celebrated Team UK’s strongest WorldSkills result for nearly a decade and described technical and vocational education as vital to economic growth, innovation and the future workforce. She said international competition helps the UK benchmark its skills system, adopt best practice and raise standards. She confirmed that a UK-China Education Summit will take place in Beijing on 24 and 25 November 2026.
New Ofsted guidance sets out how monetary penalties for unregistered social care will be calculated and imposed. It explains the factors Ofsted will consider, including culpability, harm, aggravating and mitigating circumstances, previous non-compliance and the likely financial impact. The guidance should be read alongside Ofsted’s social care enforcement policy.
Schools
See above under Faith based organisations.
Jean Tsang and Rayhaan Vankalwala explain the new statutory safeguarding information-sharing duty, which came into force on 30 September 2026. It requires organisations within scope to share relevant information where disclosure may facilitate another organisation’s safeguarding functions, unless sharing would be more detrimental to the child than withholding it. The article notes that parental consent is not required, considers the data protection implications and identifies practical steps for updating safeguarding and information-sharing procedures.
Recent Ofsted guidance clarifies several aspects of early years regulation:
Revised DBS guidance explains who requires a check, the type needed and how to obtain one. It also addresses when existing certificates may be accepted, when a home-based check is required and how subscription to the DBS Update Service affects reuse of a certificate.
Guidance on support persons confirms that a registered provider or applicant may bring an adult family member, friend or colleague to an Ofsted meeting or interview for moral or emotional support, to request breaks and, where agreed, to take notes. The support person must remain a passive observer and must disclose relevant registrations, disqualifications and potential conflicts of interest.
Ofsted’s refreshed early years regulation collection brings together new registration policies for home-based and non-domestic childminders and for childcare on domestic and non-domestic premises, alongside revised provider requirements, notification duties and guidance on objections and appeals.
Higher Education
See above under Faith based organisations.
One year after its requirements on harassment and sexual misconduct came fully into effect, the Office for Students (OfS) has highlighted positive steps by universities and colleges, including clearer reporting guidance, direct awareness campaigns, efforts to increase participation in training and greater student involvement in policy and process design. It also identifies continuing weaknesses in support, information and reporting processes, and says institutions must take credible steps to protect students from conflicts of interest and abuses of power in staff-student relationships.
The OfS is consulting on how the revised Teaching Excellence Framework will operate in practice. The proposed system would rate student experience and student outcomes as Gold, Silver, Bronze or Requires improvement, where sufficient data is available, and link lower outcomes to interventions including recruitment limits. The consultation also covers reforms to degree awarding powers; while the first stage is under consultation, the OfS will not accept new applications or grant indefinite powers. Responses are invited by 28 January 2027.
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.