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
- Charity law cases
- Tax and VAT
- Philanthropy
- Funders and funding
- Fundraising
- Legacies
- AI
- Public procurement and subsidy control
- Health and social care
- Social enterprise
- Social investment / social impact investment
- International development
- Education
Charity Commission
New Grant-Making Guidance
The Charity Commission has published new guidance for charities making grants to charities and other organisations. This replaces and expands on previous guidance to now cover all grant-making. It says that charities must identify and regularly review any risks of their grant-making processes, make appropriate checks on applicant organisations (due diligence), ensure that the work funded by the charity will help carry out the charity’s purposes, and identify and manage any conflicts of interest. The guidance also requires grant-making charities to have a written agreement in place.
Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC)
The Charity Commission gave oral evidence at a PACAC hearing for PACAC’s inquiry into the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s rulings against the Charity Commission in respect of the Commission’s handling of safeguarding concerns.
Charity law cases
Jamiyat Tabliqh Ul-Islam (JTI), which owns a mosque in Bradford, has failed in its claim that it is the beneficial owner of a mosque in Oldham. The Business and Property Courts in Manchester decided that Greengate Jamia Mosque is an independent Oldham charity, not a branch of JTI, and the Oldham mosque is therefore held on trust for it.
Tax and VAT
Thanks to Charity Tax Group (CTG) for highlighting in its June newsletter that the government has increased Approved Mileage Allowance Payments from 45p to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, with the 25p rate beyond that unchanged. Although this update is simple, CTG encourages charities to assess the implications for staff and volunteers. If mileage is reimbursed below HMRC rates, employees may be able to claim tax relief from HMRC on the shortfall, but this option is not available to volunteers. Charities should therefore consider the potential financial effect on volunteers and communicate their policy clearly to prevent misunderstanding.
Philanthropy
The Charities Aid Foundation has published its latest World Giving Report which surveyed more than 60,000 people across 105 countries on their approach to giving. The report found that 62% of the UK population donated compared to a global average of 61%.
The Chartered Institute of Fundraising has published the final part of its Philanthropy 2035 Report exploring “how charities want philanthropy to change over the next 10 years and the steps to make it happen”.
Funders and funding
New Philanthropy Capital has published a blog looking at how funders assess applications for projects which include use of AI.
Fundraising
As highlighted by the Gambling Commission, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has shared an enforcement notice making it clear that relevant gambling ads should not strongly appeal to people under 18. CAP will begin actively monitoring this from 11 June.
Civil Society has commented on the results of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s (CIOF) 2026 benchmarking survey (in partnership with the AAW Group) which was based on data from 104 charities. While gifts in wills account for 37% of voluntary income, only 15% of fundraising budgets are directed towards legacies.
Civil Society has also reported on the CIOF’s recent Fundraising Convention, highlighting comments from its chief executive, Katie Docherty, that fundraising should be seen as a “strategic investment” rather than a cost to charities.
See ‘Philanthropy’ above.
Legacies
See “Fundraising” above.
AI
The Directory of Social Change has shared an article from Emma Bracegirdle (The Saltways) which reflects on how the charity sector can use AI-generated imagery ethically.
See ‘Funders and funding’ above.
Public procurement and subsidy control
The Social Value Portal has shared guidance from the National Social Value Taskforce VCFSE Working Group, which is aimed at helping voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations to navigate barriers in public procurement and secure more public sector contracts.
Health and social care
As you probably saw in the news last week, the Government has announced over £20 million to improve prostate cancer research and treatment, including improving access to a major trial for Black men.
Social enterprise
Pioneers Post has published the list of winners of the annual NatWest SE100 Index and Impact Pioneer Awards.
Co‑operatives UK has published a blog by its Policy and Development Lead, James Wright, reflecting on progress towards the government’s ambition to double the size of the co‑operative and mutual sector. Wright highlights the “brilliant prospects” of government measures, including the £1.1bn Local Power Plan and £5bn Pride in Place programme, against an “immediate crisis in funding”. Wright calls for action on access to finance, co‑operative development, and reform of co‑operative law, and sets out recommendations.
Social investment / social impact investment
New Philanthropy Capital has published a blog exploring approaches to capacity building, arguing that funders should place greater emphasis on supporting the health of organisations and systems that deliver impact. The blog highlights the challenge of “capacity leak”, where non-profit organisations struggle to retain skills and knowledge, and outlines different approaches to capacity building. It also highlights the shift from organisational to system-level capacity, arguing that funding is only one of the assets funders can use to support impact.
BlueMark, an impact verification and market intelligence provider, has published Making the Mark 2026, an annual publication sharing data and insights from its independent verification work across the impact investing market. The report’s findings include that climate change mitigation is now the most common focus among newer impact funds, replacing financial inclusion as the leading theme for funds launched before 2021.
International development
Bond has published an article from Angelina Nyajima Simon Jial (Hope Restoration South Sudan) and Christina Bennett (Start Network) considering humanitarian action, including comments that what “local civil society needs from donors, UN agencies, INGOs and international partners is not sympathy, but solidarity, trust and practical support”.
Education
Schools
The Department for Education (DfE) has published ‘Experts at Hand & Local Authority SEND Transformation Fund’ guidance for local authorities and appointed a national panel of experts to help shape the future system to support children and young people with SEND in the classroom. The DfE has also co-published supporting guidance with NHS England on Developing and delivering the Experts at Hand offer in year 1.
The government has launched a new project to explore how better data-sharing can help ensure kids are school ready. The project will see local authorities and healthcare professionals gauging parents’ views and experiences of accessing early learning support.
The DfE has opened a consultation on statutory guidance on the information sharing duty introduced in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, including a data sharing agreement template. The guidance will replace the DfE’s existing guidance on information sharing, though the statutory guidance on working together to safeguard children will still apply. The consultation closes on 14 July 2026.
A new study by the National Foundation for Educational Research, ‘Understanding the relationship between attendance, wellbeing and sense of belonging’, has found that pupils’ life satisfaction ratings were significantly related to school absence and that life satisfaction is a much stronger predictor of school absence for females than for males.
Further Education
The DfE has opened a consultation on the proposed outline content for T Levels in Sport and Social Care for first teach in September 2028. The consultation seeks views on whether the content is appropriate and industry relevant, is set at the right level and supports effective onward progression.
The Department for Work and Pensions and Skills England has published the 2026 Annual Skills Report. The report sets out the key challenges facing England’s skills system in 2026 and how Skills England is responding. It highlights the need for a more flexible, employer-led and evidence-driven system to address skills shortages, support young people, and align training with economic priorities.
Higher Education
The Office for Students (OfS) has opened an investigation into Global Banking School Limited and Oxford Brookes University, specifically in relation to Oxford Brookes University students taught by Global Banking School Limited through a partnership between the providers.
The OfS has published new data showing that, while the number of individual potential radicalisation cases managed by institutions overall has declined slightly, formal referrals to Prevent have increased by nearly 50 per cent.
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 fortnight 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.