Our weekly round up of news and updates from across the sector
Investigations and complaints
Charity Commission inquiry into Mermaids
The Charity Commission has published a report of its inquiry into the charity Mermaids. The Commission originally opened a compliance case in September 2022, followed shortly by a Statutory Inquiry in November 2022. The Charity Commission investigated a wide range of issues, and while it did not uphold all concerns raised about the charity, it did find mismanagement in the administration of the charity in relation to several issues. The Commission reports these included failure to comply with the charity’s internal HR policies and trustee recruitment policy, failing to address internal issues around culture at the charity and to notify the Commission about a report into those issues in a timely manner, and failure to ensure that the charity’s governance kept up with the pace of growth of the charity.
The inquiry did not uphold concerns around dealing with public complaints; the information about puberty blockers published on the charity’s website (although it did note that the charitable purpose furthered by inclusion of this information on the website was unclear, and offered regulatory advice); the provision of chest binders (although it has required Mermaids to follow Cass Review findings on the involvement of parents in social transitioning as regards any future provision of chest binders to children); the charity’s relationship with the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust; the provision of medical advice, or; its affiliation to private medical practices.
Charity law cases
You’ll remember Camila Batmanghelidjh had begun judicial review proceedings against the Charity Commission in relation to the Commission’s inquiry report into Kid’s Company. Following Ms Batmanghelidjh’s death at the beginning of 2024, her executor has applied successfully to be substituted as the applicant in the JR proceedings. It helped the executor’s case that he had been clinical director of the charity and a member of its senior management team.
Trustees and whistleblowing
A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling may extend whistleblower protections to charity trustees. Bates Wells Partner Lucy McLynn and Paralegal Maya Emberton have shared a post summarising the judgment, with guidance on practical actions charities can take now to improve their whistleblowing practices.
Governance
See under Company law.
Sector General
The Local Government Association has published a good practice guide for councils working with local infrastructure organisations to engage smaller Voluntary Community Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations. The practice guide outlines why working with the sector is beneficial for councils, the importance of creating a culture that values the voluntary sector, and how local infrastructure organisations can facilitate this to build effective relationships.
The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) and Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales have published guidance for local and smaller VCSE organisations operating in areas where the council is experiencing financial difficulties, has issued a Section 114, or may be likely to in the future. NAVCA has also published a set of policy recommendations for local and central government. See commentary from Civil Society.
Safeguarding
Bond has published a blog exploring progress in safeguarding practices across the sector, based on data from its 2024 Safeguarding Survey. The survey found that 91% of respondents believe their organisation has improved its safeguarding practices in the last year, though 57% felt there may be underreporting of incidents.
Funders and funding
Associate director at New Philanthropy Capital Alex Hayes has written in Civil Society about “Why have so many funders closed to applications?”
Fundraising
See below under International development.
Legacies
Civil Society has reported that research commissioned by Rathbones showed that 99% of 101 senior executives at UK charities were affected by delays in probate grants, while 51% said they had to cut back on the services they provide and 43% had to fill the financial gap by selling properties.
Data and privacy
The Data (Use and Access) Bill has beenintroduced into the House of Lords. In this press release, government says the Bill will “unlock the secure and effective use of data for the public interest, without adding pressures to the country’s finances”. Proposed changes include:
- measures that will remove unnecessary manual logging requirements whenever police are accessing personal data to work on a case, for example every time an officer needs to look up a suspect or person of interest on the police database;
- making patients’ data easily transferable across the NHS;
- simplifying ways to verify your identity online;
- enabling electronic registration of births and deaths; and
- boosting the UK’s approach to tackling online harms through a power to create a researcher data access regime.
The Bill will also impose restrictions on public authorities making “significant decisions” involving special category data that are based solely on automated decision-making.
The Information Commissioner has welcomed the Bill and said the ICO will publish its response in due course.
The European Affairs Committee in the House of Lords has published its key conclusions and recommendations on EU-UK data adequacy, following an inquiry into this issue earlier this year. Eleonor Duhs, Partner and Head of Data & Privacy at Bates Wells was one of the witnesses who gave evidence. Here is a link to the evidence session: Parliamentlive.tv – European Affairs Committee. The Committee has concluded that:
- Losing data adequacy would impose significant costs and burdens and run counter to the Government’s growth agenda;
- Securing renewed adequacy under the GDPR and law enforcement directive should be a priority;
- The Government should engage with the European Commission to reassure it on any prospective changes set out in the imminent Digital Information and Smart Data Bill
- The renewal of the UK’s EU adequacy should be part of its wider reset of the relationship with the EU
- The UK should maintain high standards of protection of personal data.
The Secretary of State has been invited to respond to the conclusions and to give evidence on the issues raised by the inquiry.
Company law
The Institute of Directors has published a new code of conduct for directors (this follows a consultation earlier this year). The code is a voluntary source of guidance and is directed at individual directors (as well as anyone fulfilling a director or director-equivalent role) in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors and in organisations of all sizes, including listed companies and publicly owned entities. Boards are encouraged to publicly commit to it and suggested mechanisms to do so include disclosure in annual reports and on websites. A kitemark to signify commitment has been developed.
A private member’s Bill “Company Director Duties Bill” has been listed for its second reading in July 2025. The aim of the Bill is to amend section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 to require company directors to balance their duty to promote the success of the company with duties in respect of the environment and the company’s employees.
Health and social care
The Care Quality Commission has published its annual assessment of health and social care in England for 2023/24. It identifies issues in areas including timely access to care; inequalities in care (notably in maternity care); mental health services (particularly for children and young people); care for autistic people; and care for people with a learning disability.
The Centre for Mental Health (with UK Youth and The Diana Award) has published a report ‘A Space to Be Me’ with insights and data from the Young Changemakers programme run by UK Youth, The Diana Award, and Centre for Mental Health. It includes policy recommendations to improve mental health outcomes for Black young people and their communities, including calls for reforms to the Mental Health Act 1983.
Social enterprise
The Social Enterprise World Forum and the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship (ACRE) have launched a manifesto report outlining eleven ways in which policymakers can unlock the power of rural social enterprise. This includes adopting models of social financing and investment that are appropriate for rural communities, and the creation of incentives for local community asset ownership in rural policy. Pioneers Post reported on the launch, where Mary-Anne Scully, executive director at ACRE, said that rural-focused social enterprises could tap into rural people’s “acceptance of risk.”
The Big Issue has announced that a special supplement will be included inside the next edition of its magazine, showcasing social businesses created by school pupils across the UK with the support of Social Enterprise Academy, also supported by Big Issue Invest.
Co-op Party event reiterates ambitious co-op economy growth pledges. Coop News reported from ‘Co-operative Change’, a Co-operative Party ‘showcase’ event hosted by the Co-op Group at its headquarters. According to the article, discussions at the event included how co-ops can provide solutions to issues like the energy crisis and supporting people back into work, as well as the role of local authorities and community ownership, and the Government’s plans for the sector.
A Case for Impact Film. Impact Europe has published a blog that explores the significance of film in creating impact, and its potential to turn people towards action.
The right and wrong reasons to borrow: A guide for social purpose organisations seeking funding. Holger Westphely, Head of Lending at Big Issue Invest, outlines the funding considerations social purpose organisations must consider before deciding to take on debt.
Social investment/social impact investment
Responsible Finance has outlined the role of first-loss funding in financial inclusion and economic growth, with reference to findings from its pilot project, launched last October, which is exploring how first-loss funding can crowd-in private investment to personal lending Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). The article refers to first-loss funds that have been supporting the growth of small businesses, and the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy.
Responsible Finance has reported on an event held in Parliament, by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Banking alongside the Fair Banking for All Campaign, highlighting calls for a new ‘Fair Banking Act’ to tackle the credit crisis affecting individuals and businesses. Theodora Hadjimichael, chief executive of Responsible Finance, said that the organisation is supporting the campaign because, in order for CDFIs to grow, “lenders need to offer affordable finance, and incentives to ensure that growing demand for affordable, ethical, credit can be met.”
The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) has published its “Sizing the Impact Investing Market 2024” report, which estimates that over 3,907 organizations currently manage USD$1.571 trillion in impact investing assets under management worldwide. This represents a 21% compound annual growth of the total impact investing market since 2019. The report also highlights the main capital influencers and statistics on impact portfolio sizes.
Good Finance has published an article highlighting five examples of organisations that have used social investment to “unlock potential”, by enabling the organisation to reach and support more people.
New Philanthropy Capital has shared an evaluation report about raising awareness and increasing the use of catalytic capital (which it describes as “equity, or guarantees that accept disproportionate risk and/or concessionary returns compared to conventional investments to generate substantial positive social and environmental impacts or enable third-party investment that would not otherwise be possible”).
Sport
The Football Governance Bill has been introduced to the House of Lords. Key provisions include the establishment of an Independent Football Regulator and new powers to consult fans on ticket pricing and home stadium relocations. Clubs will also be required to publish the action they are taking on equality, diversity and inclusion as part of reporting against a new Football Club corporate governance code that the regulator will introduce. See press release.
International development
Ambassador Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, has made a statement at the UN Security Council meeting on Syria, where she emphasised the importance of humanitarian organisations being able to “deliver lifesaving assistance free from interference or restriction.” The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office also announced that the UK will provide Syria with an addition £3million “to help trusted aid organisations to deliver immediate healthcare at border crossings…as well as targeted protection assistance for women and girls.”
Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, made a statement at the UN Security Council meeting on Haiti, where he said that “the UK has pledged over $6 million to support the deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission through strengthening the mission’s human rights compliance framework” and that he “expects the first tranche of funding to be released imminently.” Kariuki also urged civil society to “to seize this opportunity to create the conditions necessary for lasting change.”
CCE has flagged the recently published research by CCE lecturer, Dr Haseeb Shabbir – Poverty Porn as Humanitarian Business: The Effects of Framing, Affect Intensity, and Spokesperson Characteristics This research examined the extent to which humanitarian ads utilise images of extreme poverty and embedded racial bias in society to weaponize fundraising.
Education
General
The Child Poverty Taskforce has published a framework which sets out how they will build a strategy which aims to “give all children the best start in life”. The framework outlines how the Taskforce will work with key anti-poverty organisations, and in December the publication notes that “experts on children’s health, early years and education and representatives from civil society will be invited to share experience and expertise on ensuring low-income families are able to access quality services to tackle the impacts of poverty.” The strategy will be published in the Spring. See press release.
Schools
Schools Week has reported that at the Education Estates Conference, officials from the Department for Education (DfE) noted that the likely threshold for trusts and councils to be issued with new notices to improve school estates would be “very high, and only if they are failing to engage with government”.
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has announced in a written statement to Parliament, that officials are going to “review the mainstream free schools planned by the last government, that have not yet opened” and will look at “whether they will meet a need for places in their local area and offer value for taxpayers’ money”. More detail on schools in scope of the review is expected in due course.
The National Audit Office has published a report which assesses how well the current system is delivering for children and young people in England identified as having special educational needs. The report concludes that the cost of the SEN system has increased, and even though the DfE has increased high-needs fundings, “the current system is not achieving value for money and is unsustainable”. Recommendations include “whole-system reform” and to “build a more integrated system” by “developing a shared understanding of how identifying and supporting SEN should be prioritised”. See commentary from Schools Week.
The DfE has published the “Phase One Insight Summary” report from its Delivering Better Value in Send programme, which outlines the key themes and challenges identified by diagnostic work where local areas received tailored support from the programme’s delivery partners. The report also provides an overview of the ways local areas plan to improve outcomes. Key findings include that “if the system was improved, it could lead to 30,000 more children having their needs met through SEN Support and 35,000 more children having their needs met in a mainstream setting rather than a specialist placement”.
Higher Education
The Office for Students has published an “Insight Brief” which sets out the findings from its recent quality assessments and identifies four main areas which can affect the quality of higher education. This includes delivery of courses and resources, academic support and student engagement with courses, assessment of learning and academic leadership and oversight. The brief also sets out points for institutions to consider when thinking about how to improve the quality of their courses.
The DfE has published the “widening participation in higher education” data for the academic year 2022/23. Key findings include that for students eligible for free schools meals when they were 15, the higher education progression rate by age 19 fell from 29.2 per cent in 2021-22 to 29 per cent in 2022-23. This is the first time the rate is down in the series. See commentary from the Guardian.
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 content is necessarily of a general nature – specific advice should always be sought for specific situations.