Our weekly roundup 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
- Banking
- Sector general
- Employment
- Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
- Fundraising
- Intellectual property
- Company law
- Children’s services
- Health and social care
- Mutuals
- Social enterprise
- Social investment / social impact investment
- Sport
- Culture and creative
- Education
Charity Commission
New grant-making guidance
We have now looked at the Charity Commission’s new guidance for charities making grants to charities and other organisations in more detail. The new guidance is for all grants – the previous version only covered grants to non-charities. The guidance makes clear that grant-making charities have the flexibility to provide unrestricted grants to charities with the same, or narrower, purposes than their own. We don’t think the new guidance reflects a change in the Commission’s approach to grant-making, but it is more operationally focused and streamlined.
Proposed investigation into charity links to illegal settlements
In a statement to Parliament, the Foreign Secretary said “alongside my Right Hon. friend the Culture Secretary, I have written to the Charity Commission for England and Wales requesting that they open an investigation into evidence of UK charities that have links to illegal settlements. The Minister for the Middle East will meet with the Commission CEO tomorrow, because no UK charity should be supporting or enabling these breaches of international law.
The principles we are acting on, I believe, are widely supported across this House. We believe that settlements are a fundamental barrier to peace and a flagrant breach of international law. We believe that violent settler groups should not be profiting from the land that they have seized from Palestinians…”
New joint guidance on raising money for charity
The Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator have published new, joint guidance ‘Raising money for charity: public guidance’. The guidance is for the public who want to raise funds for charity.
Investigations and complaints
The Fundraising Regulator (FR) has investigated Homeless in Need UK CIC after a local authority shared concerns about a fundraiser collecting cash on the CIC’s behalf. The FR found various breaches of the Code of Fundraising Practice, including that the CIC did not have the required permissions to fundraise on public land and the fundraiser’s behaviour did not meet the expected standards.
Banking
The Access to Banking Review is inviting views on accessing face-to-face banking services from community organisations, businesses and members of the public.
Sector general
Bates Wells Senior Associate Laura Hobbs has shared guidance for Awarding Organisations considering mergers and acquisitions, with particular tips for charitable Awarding Organisations on navigating charity law.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has published its Spring Briefing 2026 report (in partnership with Zurich) which interviewed 50 charity leaders, trustees, staff and volunteers on how “charities are adapting to a more volatile operating environment”.
Employment
The government has launched a consultation on its proposals, in the Employment Rights Act 2025, to reform zero and low hours contracts. The aim of the proposals is to put an “end to one-sided flexibility” in these contracts. They will give qualifying workers the right to be offered guaranteed hours in certain situations, as well as the right to receive reasonable notice of shifts. Bates Wells’ Senior Associate Thérèse Rankin explains the key issues that the consultation is seeking input on. The consultation closes 25 August 2026.
Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
See ‘Social investment / social impact investment‘ and ‘Education’ below.
Fundraising
See ‘Investigations and complaints’ above.
Intellectual property
Last week the Intellectual Property Office launched the Knowledge Asset Management Hub which is designed to help universities and other research institutions identify, protect and commercialise their intellectual property and broader knowledge assets. The Hub comprises four core components:
- Institutional IP strategy guidance — practical frameworks to help universities and research organisations develop and implement IP strategies and policies at an organisational level
- Project-level IP risk and opportunity tools — resources to help teams identify and manage IP considerations within individual research projects, from early-stage collaboration agreements through to commercialisation
- Patent data analysis and IP due diligence resources — tools to support the assessments that underpin licencing, spin-out formation, and investment decisions
- Knowledge Asset Management Toolkit — guidance recognising that effective knowledge asset management requires strategic and operational management
Bates Wells Partner Mindy Jhittay and Associate Katy Sawyer consider frequently asked questions around bringing copyright claims.
Company law
The government has confirmed that it will proceed with implementing the accounts filing reforms introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. These include:
- requiring all companies to file their annual accounts via commercial software in iXBRL format
- requiring small companies and micro entities to file profit and loss accounts, but with an opt out from publishing this information on the public register
- reducing the number of times a company can shorten its accounting reference period
These reforms won’t come into effect until April 2028 (rather than April 2027). This provides all companies with one full accounting year, plus 9 months to get ready. If you already file your accounts using software or a third party, you may not need to take any action. Companies House recommend you check with your accountant to make sure.
Children’s services
The government has announced plans to ensure all children have access to enrichment activities, including arts, sport, nature and life skills, both in and out of school. The £132.5 million “Every Child Can” programme will fund activities during term time, at weekends and during the holidays, with the aim of reducing unequal access.
Health and social care
The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has launched two reports describing the findings of an extensive engagement and evidence gathering programme undertaken to inform future rules on how AI can be used safely in healthcare.
The Care Quality Commission has issued a statement about a recent Supreme Court judgment, which “establishes a new approach to establishing whether a person may be deprived of their liberty”.
Mutuals
Plans for a new champion for mutuals and co-ops were unveiled in a speech by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury in Birmingham last week.
Social enterprise
Bates Wells’ Partner Louise Harman and Solicitor Olivia Woodward have written an article reflecting on the growing momentum of the UK Impact Economy. The piece highlights the crucial role of collaboration and community‑led solutions in social investment, alongside expected growth in purpose‑driven, regenerative and circular business models, driven by innovation and renewed government engagement. These topics, and more, will be further explored at Bates Wells’ annual Be More Radical event on 7 July, themed ‘The Impact Economy: From Policy Signal to Market Reality’. If you’d like to join us, please register your interest to attend.
Social Enterprise UK has published the latest annual report on the Buy Social Corporate Challenge, an initiative for large businesses aiming to collectively spend £1 billion with social enterprises through their procurement. Covering progress between 2016 and 2025, the report found that the total spend by corporate participants, on goods and services supplied by social enterprises, was over £864m, which supported the creation of nearly 8,000 jobs. The report highlighted that 65% of participating businesses said working with social enterprises had helped them to win new business. Phase two of the Challenge will launch in spring 2027.
The Maple Review has published its report, Exclusion and Enterprise: Entrepreneurship, Poverty and Breaking Down Barriers, which examines the barriers to entrepreneurship caused by economic deprivation. The government-backed review drew on evidence submissions from 80 support organisations, alongside a national survey of more than 600 entrepreneurs from low‑income backgrounds. It provides recommendations for government, corporate partners and the business support community. While the report does not discuss social entrepreneurship specifically, its findings may be interesting for anyone is, for example, founding a social enterprise, supporting social enterprise startups, or otherwise interested in barriers to the growth of social business.
Social investment / social impact investment
Access – the Foundation for Social Investment has announced more than £1m in funding to support the Diversity Forum and the Equality Impact Investing Project (EIIP) in delivering “against their shared goals of making social investment more equitable and better able to reach underserved communities”. While the Diversity Forum will focus on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) practice and accountability across the social investment sector, EIIP will “focus on wider ecosystem change” and mobilising capital for equality impact. Access intends these initiatives to “complement the role of Pathway Fund as a racial equity-focused wholesaler” alongside other EDI work across the sector. For more, see the Diversity Forum’s announcement.
Access has published its latest annual update on analysis of Better Society Capital’s Enterprise Level Data, “to understand how organisations supported through Access funded programmes compare to the wider social investment market”. The findings are based on 2024 data and conclude that Access programmes, working through its partners, continue to reach smaller organisations and those in more deprived communities. Access has also announced that Seb Elsworth will step down as CEO and that Neil Berry, the organisation’s Director of Programmes, will be interim CEO from 1 September.
Impact Europe has published a report exploring “outcomes based finance as a tool for systems change”, building on its earlier Collaboration in Action research on cross‑sector collaboration for systems change. The report focuses on how outcomes‑based approaches can help align incentives, share risk and strengthen accountability across public, private and philanthropic actors, and draws on practitioner insight to assess opportunities and barriers in practice. For more, Impact Europe has also published its 2025 Annual Report, setting out activity across its European membership and its role in developing the impact investing market.
Sport
As explained by Bates Wells Senior Associate Ben Thomas, the Independent Football Regulator is now operational under the Football Governance Act 2025. Check out the article for details about how to navigate the regime and what will happen next.
Culture and creative
Bates Wells Partner Chetal Patel and Knowledge Lawyer Gill McKearney have shared reflections on the importance of media tech (including the creative industries) in the UK’s tech and talent strategy.
Education
General
The UK Government has announced plans to ban social media platforms from offering services to under-16s, in what it describes as a landmark move to improve children’s wellbeing online. Legislation is expected to be brought before Parliament later this year, with the new regime likely to come into force in Spring 2027, supported by enhanced age verification requirements and regulatory oversight by Ofcom.
Ofqual has fined Cambridge English £875,000 following systemic marking errors in International English Language Testing System tests, which resulted in incorrect results being issued to tens of thousands of candidates globally.
Schools
The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that nearly six million children and young people in England can now access mental health support in schools and colleges, marking significant progress towards the government’s target of universal coverage by 2029.
Ofsted has published the evidence base underpinning its new education inspection toolkits, setting out the statutory guidance, professional standards and research used to inform how inspections will be carried out across education settings.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has opened a consultation on updated technical guidance for schools in England on their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. The draft guidance reflects recent case law developments, including on the meaning of “sex” under the Act and religion or belief discrimination, and covers areas such as single-sex provision, competitive sport, changing facilities, pronoun policies, disability, restraint, seclusion and isolation. The consultation closes on 30 September 2026.
See ‘Children’s services’ above.
Further Education
The DfE has published the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) 2026 to 2027 academic year documents, which apply to all education and training providers that receive ASF funding from the DfE on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
Higher Education
The Ministry of Defence has announced £80 million of funding for 24 universities and colleges across England to expand provision in defence-related disciplines and increase capacity.
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 last week 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.