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

Official Warning

The Charity Commission has issued an Official Warning to Chabad Lubavitch Centres North East London and Essex Limited. The charity previously established a fundraising page to raise funds for a soldier of the Israeli Defence Forces. £937 (of around £2,280 raised) was sent directly to an individual soldier, and the remaining funds were spent on non-lethal military equipment which was sent to the same soldier. The Commission’s regulatory compliance case found that the fundraising activity was outside of the charity’s purposes (and not capable of being charitable) and the trustees had failed to act in the best interests of the charity and its reputation. Helen Earner, Director for Regulatory Services at the Charity Commission, noted it “is not lawful, or acceptable, for a charity to raise funds to support a soldier of a foreign military”.

Convictions for money laundering and theft case

The Charity Commission has issued a press release welcoming the sentencing of Rajbinder Kaur and Khaldip Singh Lehal, in relation to a theft of money that had been donated to Sikh Youth UK. Kaur has been sentenced to a jail term for money laundering and six counts of theft (totalling £50,000). Both siblings were found guilty of knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information to the Charity Commission while attempting to cover up the theft. The Commission notes “It is a significant step for individuals to be convicted for providing the Charity Commission with false or misleading information, under section 60 of the Charities Act 2011, and the sentences underline how seriously the courts take this crime.” Civil Society has shared an article with more details about the sentencing.

Interim Managers

The Charity Commission has appointed Interim Managers to College Farm Trust, which was placed under statutory inquiry last August. Their responsibilities will include recruiting members, calling an AGM during which trustees will be elected, and securing the charity’s assets.

Also see under ‘Investigations and complaints’ below.

Investigations and complaints

Statutory Inquiries

The Charity Commission has:

  • opened statutory inquiries into four charities – TBF Trust, Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life, Reconciliation Trust and Servants Fellowship International. These are all linked to Barnabas Fund (which is already under an inquiry) through a flow of funds and shared premises, trustees, and/or founders. Each inquiry will consider if there is a risk to charity property. The Commission has frozen the bank accounts of Reconciliation Trust and restricted any transactions over £2,500 from the other three charities so they will need consent from the Commission.
  • opened a statutory inquiry into Community Accountancy Self Help, following failures to submit any accounting information for multiple years and twice being placed under the Commission’s double defaulters inquiry. This charity’s purposes include advancing education through training and advice about financial management, particularly for charities. Given that focus, the Commission has previously told the charity it “should be setting a good example to the charities to which it offers services”.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has published a press release and report into The King’s Foundation. OSCR found that historical governance sometimes failed to meet the required standard, but did not find evidence of misconduct by former or current trustees. OSCR determined that some actions by the charity’s former CEO exposed the charity to substantial risk. For example, it identified a lack of communication from the former CEO to the trustees in relation to loaned high value paintings (with issues such as unsigned agreements and lapsed insurance). However, it did not consider there was misconduct from that CEO.

Governance

See final item under Climate change and environment below.

Tax and VAT

On 7 January, there was a MPs held a debate on how the changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions would impact the charity sector. Civil Society has summarised some of the key comments.

Sector General

This week the government has launched a new “Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise business hub” which is described as “a guide to how the government is supporting VCSE organisations”.  The hub collates a number of existing resources for VCSEs including a short guide on “how to bid and win contracts with central government, local authorities and other public sector buyers”.

Civil Society has reported on a letter from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to civil society sector partners. This notes Starmer has been “greatly encouraged” by responses relating to the government’s consultation on its new Civil Society Covenant.

Climate change and environment

In a written statement to Parliament, Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State for Transport, has emphasised the importance of transitioning to zero emission vehicles, which will “play a critical role in quickly reducing carbon emissions and improving our energy security.” This follows the commencement of a consultation by the Department for Transport, which is seeking views “on delivering the commitment to end the sale of new cars powered solely by internal combustion engines (petrol and diesel) by 2030 and supporting the UK’s transition to zero emissions vehicles.” The consultation closes on 18 February.

Social Investment Business has published a research report into costs and opportunities for the community sector to meet minimum efficiency standards, in light of the government’s plans for all rented domestic buildings to require an EPC of at least C by 2030. It finds that, at the current rate of progress, 30% of community buildings will fail to meet this requirement and there are regional disparities in building conditions. The report calls for investment of £429 million to improve the standards.

The charitable research institute the Scottish Association for Marine Science recently voted to make the ocean a trustee on its board, represented either by a specific person or a working group that can help hold the organisation to account and speak up for the ocean’s interests. This article has more details. 

Also see below under Animal welfare.

Funders and funding

Reclaim Fund Ltd has announced that the UK’s Dormant Assets Scheme has reached a milestone of £1 billion in funds being transferred (via the National Lottery Community Fund) to social and environmental programmes in the UK. The scheme has been operating since 2011 with the goal to unlock dormant funds which will otherwise go unused. Former Prime Minister Gorden Brown (who introduced the scheme) has commented “From supporting 25,000 disadvantaged young people in employment and training to expanding a social investment industry now investing £10 billion in UK charities and social enterprises, its impact has been transformative”.

Legacies

The government has decided not to pursue any reform that involves the destruction of original paper will documents, following public consultation on the long-term storage of wills in England and Wales. The response to the consultation from the Ministry of Justice says that there was strong opposition to any destruction of original wills or other documents, for a variety of reasons in terms of both a national historical resource and also for individual legal challenges. This article from STEP explains more about the consultation outcome.

AI

Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will announce a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Opportunities Action Plan which will take forward all 50 recommendations set out by Matt Clifford, tech entrepreneur and Chair of Advanced Research And Invention Agency. Clifford was tasked with creating a “roadmap for government to capture the opportunities of AI to enhance growth and productivity and create tangible benefits for UK citizens” last summer. The press release outlines that key measures include:

  • Forging new AI Growth Zones to speed up planning proposals and build more AI infrastructure; and
  • creating a new National Data Library to safely and securely unlock the value of public data and support AI development.

Join our AI panel session on Wednesday 12th February as we explore emerging trends and key considerations for organisations interested in, or currently, developing or deploying AI in 2025. The discussion will include:  

  • Navigating the regulatory landscape in the context of emerging and diverse global approaches to regulation. 
  • Emerging trends in AI contracts, including IP issues and risk allocation. 
  • Addressing employment considerations: How can employers mitigate the risks of using AI in the workplace, particularly around oversight of automated decision if faced with a challenge?

Community interest companies

The Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies is holding a joint webinar with the Business Support Service (BSS) on Thursday 22 January at 11am, which will provide an insight into how the CIC model operates, helpful tips on completing a successful application, and how BSS can provide free advice and guidance.

Property

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill has completed its second reading in the House of Lords and will now proceed to Committee stage in the House of Lords. For a reminder of the Bill’s current provisions, see Home Office: Martyn’s Law Factsheet and Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill 2024: factsheets.

Scotland

See the second item in ‘Investigations and complaints’ above.

Northern Ireland

Chief Commissioner of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI), Gerard McCurdy, has shared reflections on the role of charities and CCNI in 2025. McCurdy notes “Our role is to regulate the charity sector proportionately, robustly and transparently. However, our relationship with charities goes beyond regulation. We aim to support, enable and engage – providing the framework and the guidance needed for charities to flourish.”

CCNI has also shared an update about its annual public meeting on 22 January 2025, which will feature Dr Clare Mills (Deputy CEO of the Charity Finance Group) as the guest speaker. She will speak about CFG’s ongoing work to improve banking services for charities.

Health and social care

As you’ll have seen in the press, NHS England has published the Elective Reform Plan which “sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament.” Measures include the expanded use of Community Diagnostic Centres and an upgraded NHS App which will aim to give patients more power over how and when they received elective treatment.  The NHS has also entered into a new partnership agreement with the independent sector, which aims to tackle long waiting lists and “widen patient choice.” See press release and speech from Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. NHS Providers has also shared a briefing with their thoughts on the plan.

Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has given an oral statement about the government’s commitment to tackle child sexual abuse and grooming gangs.

Social enterprise

How to be a brilliant social enterprise employer: Make flexible working the default. Pioneers Post, in partnership with NatWest and WISE100, talks to Jimmy van Santen from Roots HR, which specialises in human resources for social sector employers, about the benefits of offering flexible working, best practice, and how flexible workers can be supported.

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and the World Economic Forum have published Unlocking the Social Economy: Towards Equity in the Green and Digital Transitions in collaboration with Deloitte. The report highlights the role of the social economy in promoting equity within both the green and digital transitions, which can “often leave behind communities dependent on fossil fuels or marginalised by the digital divide”. The report explores: what is equity in the green and digital transitions, how the social economy can drive economic equity in these transitions, and policy actions to advance the social economy.

Social investment/social impact investment

Social Investment Business has published “Futureproofing the UK’s Community Sector: An Analysis of Community Buildings’ EPC Recommendations”, following the government’s announcement in September 2024 that they intend to raise the minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) standard of rented domestic buildings to C by 2030. The report outlines how the community sector can reach this standard, and the benefits and estimated cost of making the necessary improvements. 

International development

Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, delivered a speech at the UN Security Council meeting on the protection of civilians in Sudan, where he called on the “international community to step up support to both the UN and Sudanese local responders on the front line.” Kariuki also urged both sides “to put in place necessary safety guarantees for aid workers.”

Bond has reported on comments from the Minister for Development Anneliese Dodds, when giving evidence to Parliament’s International Development Committee on the development work of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Bond reports that Dodds announced “there will be an uplift to the FCDO’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget for overseas programmes of £200-300 million for 2024/25 pending parliamentary approval. This is said to be due to a higher forecasted GNI and spending on domestic asylum and refugee costs being lower than anticipated.” 

Animal welfare

Bates Wells Partner Tim Constable and Associate Anna Roohi have shared a summary of legal avenues being explored to strengthen protections for natural environments and animals. 

Education

General

As reported last week, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill has been introduced to Parliament and has now passed its second reading. This press release and blog from the Department for Education outline various measures that the Bill is aiming to introduce.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published their annual report on education spending in England: 2025-25. Key findings include that “between 2019–20 and this financial year (2024–25), total school spending in England grew by about £8 billion. This has led to 11% real-terms growth in school spending per pupil.” Additionally, “over half of the increase in school funding between 2019 and 2024 can be explained by growth in high needs funding.” For higher education the report notes that “student numbers in 2024 are well below forecasts (23% lower for international students).” See commentary from Schools Week.

Schools

The National Governance Association has published a blog which outlines several changes that schools can expect in 2025. This includes the introduction of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to parliament, a new Ofsted inspection framework and report cards, and the publication of recommendations from the curriculum and assessment review.

Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Ofsted, provided oral evidence to the Education Committee on his progress in addressing the Coroner’s concerns following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry in 2022, implementing the previous Committee’s recommendations and responding to the Big Listen consultation. Key points included that Ofsted are aiming to launch a consultation on the introduction of report cards this month, and that key focuses of the report card will be “leadership and governance, curriculum, developing teaching, looking at the outcomes, behaviour, attendance, personal development and inclusion.” Safeguarding will also form a separate judgement.

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.