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
- Governance
- Sanctions
- Sector general
- Funders and funding
- Fundraising
- Legacies
- Data and privacy
- AI
- Health and social care
- Housing and homelessness
- Social investment / social impact investment
- International development
- Education
Charity Commission
At the Third Sector Conference 2026, Charity Commission Chair Dame Julia Unwin gave a speech about “The Commission’s role in uncertain times”. She discussed the current context for charities and related this to the role of the Commission. Unwin said that “charities offer a great bulwark against division and hatred” and that “good governance is the bedrock of the special status charities hold in our society”.
The Charity Commission has updated its guidance How to make changes to your charity’s governing document (CC36). Note there is separate guidance for charitable companies, CIOs, unincorporated associations, and trusts. The Commission says the guidance has been updated to clarify some legal requirements, and to improve usability. The updated guidance for charitable companies includes more detail about the role of company members in these decisions, managing conflicts of interest, giving notice of or consulting on changes, and benefits to trustees.
Investigations and complaints
The Charity Commission has published inquiry reports into two connected charities, Jesus Power House Ministries Ltd and Centre for Skills Enhancement Ltd, concluding that there had been serious and sustained misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of both charities.
The charities had the same sole trustee, and both operated without the number of trustees required by their respective governing documents. They also failed to manage finances responsibly and didn’t comply with accounting and reporting requirements. One significantly overclaimed Gift Aid, while the other failed to manage the charity’s insolvency. The Commission removed and disqualified the trustee of Jesus Power House Ministries Ltd, appointing new trustees to the board. Centre for Skills Enhancement Ltd was no longer operational and has been removed from the Register of Charities.
Governance
Charity Finance Group and The Risk Collaborative have released new research, as part of a collaborative approach convened in partnership with the Charity Commission. This “presents evidence-based recommendations for a substantive refresh” of the Commission’s CC26 guidance on charities and risk management. It notes that, for around half of respondents who use a risk register, the register often has a “limited” role in decision-making. The report includes recommendations such as reframing the updated CC26 as a decision-making aid (rather than a compliance tool) and supporting charities with practical language to start conversations with funders around risk. An article from Civil Society includes a response from the Commission’s Rachel Wenstone, noting that “We’ll consider the report carefully as we review our guidance, which we recognise is due for an update and refresh”.
Sanctions
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) have jointly published an overview comparing key aspects of the US and UK economic sanctions regimes. Augustus Della-Porta comments “It provides a useful introduction for organisations navigating cross‑border sanctions compliance, in particular by highlighting key differences in sanctions lists, ownership thresholds, reporting obligations, record‑keeping, licensing, and enforcement approaches between the UK and US regimes. However, it is not a substitute for the detailed guidance and regulations issued by OFAC and OFSI, which organisations operating in this area should ensure they are familiar with.”
Sector general
Following on from our March webinar on Managing Financial Difficulties, we recently hosted a Financial Management Roundtable with FRP Advisory which explored the challenges facing charities in the current funding environment. Louise Harman and Lauren Woosey share some key takeaways from that roundtable.
Paul Seath has shared a round-up of 5-minute ‘people and workplace’ updates designed to help HR teams. This includes commentary relating to unfair dismissal, discrimination claims, and fixed-term employees and training.
Funders and funding
UK Grantmaking has published data from more than 14,000 UK grantmakers indicating that total grantmaking has exceeded £24bn in 2024-25, an increase of 4% on the previous year (which is slightly above inflation).
Fundraising
As explained in its blog, the Fundraising Regulator (FR) has shared a new guide on the charitable purposes soft opt-in and fundraising marketing. This is a practical guide designed to help charitable fundraising organisations follow the Code of Fundraising Practice and the law and to complement guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It also sits alongside the FR’s guidance on data privacy and fundraising, which has recently been updated to reflect changes to data privacy legislation. For more information about the charitable purposes soft opt-in, check out our blog from Hannah Lyons and Sara Moon about the ICO’s guidance.
The Gambling Commission has invited the gambling industry to share proposals (until 25 September 2026) to reduce regulatory burdens.
Legacies
From 13 July 2026 the application fee for grant of probate will increase from £300 to £526.
Data and privacy
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has explained that a new legal duty is in force which means organisations which handle personal data must now “give people a clear way to raise a data protection complaint, acknowledge it within 30 days, investigate appropriately and communicate the outcome”. If you would like any support with the new requirements, you can reach out to Rayhaan Vankalwala.
One year after the commencement of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, a blog from the ICO’s Deputy Commissioner for Regulatory Policy Emily Kearney reflects on the ICO’s priorities, new powers, and latest guidance. The ICO plans to publish new and updated guidance throughout the summer, as explained in its guidance pipeline.
See ‘Fundraising’ above and ‘Health and social care’ below.
AI
See ‘Health and social care‘ below.
Health and social care
The government has announced £85m funding for obesity care, including new AI backed services.
The Care Quality Commission has published a position statement and new research which explain its work to become an anti-racism organisation.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is calling on social care leaders to publicly commit to improving the creation, handling, and access of care records. The ICO has also shared a blog from Paul Arnold, its Chief Executive Officer, emphasising the importance of protecting patient data in healthcare
Housing and homelessness
This week the Vagrancy Act 1824 will be repealed.
Social investment / social impact investment
Good Finance has set out answers to seven key questions on social investment for small charities, aiming to “demystify what social investment is (and isn’t)” and challenge common myths. The blog also signposts readers to Good Finance’s tools, resources, and case studies on social investment in practice.
British International Investment has published its 2025 Annual Review, which sets out its investment impact across people, planet, and growth over the year (press summary). The Review highlights £1.82b of total investment in 2025, including £827m for “climate finance commitments” and £585m for “gender finance commitments”.
Impact Europe recaps on insights from an Impact Days panel on mobilising blended finance structures for institutional investment. Drawing on international case studies, including how a $600,000 junior note was followed by $26m in subsequent investment, the discussion highlighted challenges to investment related to deal size and perceptions of risk. The article includes comment from Daniel Brewer, CEO of Resonance, and Seb Ellsworth, CEO of Access.
Impact Europe also summarises panel discussions from an Impact Days event focused on whether Europe’s capital markets are suited to supporting innovation and the scaling of mission driven organisations. The discussions pointed to the need for reform to mobilise capital, highlighting barriers around access to early‑stage finance, limits in existing VC models, and the role of institutional and blended capital. These insights will inform a forthcoming position paper, ‘Shaping Capital Markets for Impact in Europe’, due to be published at the end of June 2026.
Finally, Impact Europe has published interviews with its outgoing chair, Leslie Johnston, and incoming chair, Markus Freiburg, marking a change in leadership at the organisation from the start of June 2026.
International development
The Foreign Secretary has announced further UK Government support for Gaza, including support for a group of Palestinian students with fully funded scholarships to take up places at UK universities and arrangements for further medical evacuations of critically ill children requiring specialist NHS care.
Education
General
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published “Edtech examined”, a report of audits carried out during 2024 and 2025 with 28 edtech providers whose products are widely used across UK primary and secondary schools. The ICO identified some positive practice, particularly in information security, but also found widespread compliance gaps, including uncertainty over whether providers were acting as controllers or processors, insufficiently detailed contracts with schools, incomplete records of processing activities and data mapping, unclear retention periods for children’s personal information, and incomplete or missing data protection impact assessments. The ICO made 596 recommendations, 98% of which providers accepted and put in place. The ICO is also engaging with the Department for Education (DfE) and devolved authorities on improving the handling of children’s personal information in schools, including considering how a new edtech code could strengthen protections for children’s data. Rayhaan Vankalwala comments “The ICO has made clear that it will continue to monitor the edtech sector, and the report serves as another important reminder that protecting children’s data and privacy remains one of the ICO’s key priorities. Given the ICO’s active enforcement in this space, it is essential that all organisations which process children’s data (in the edtech sector and beyond) carefully consider their data protection obligations and take sufficient steps to ensure that the data they collect, hold and use is adequately protected.”
The Independent Inquiry into White Working-Class Educational Outcomes has published its final report and recommendations.
Also see ‘International Development‘ above.
Schools
New guidance published last week includes:
- statutory DfE guidance on mobile phones in schools, which says schools should develop a policy prohibiting the use of mobile phones and similar smart technology throughout the school day;
- new government guidance on inclusion for children and young people with SEND, including guidance on inclusion bases in mainstream schools and advice on adapting physical spaces in schools, early years settings and post-16 settings; and
- Education Hub guidance on managing hot weather and heatwaves in schools and other education settings, signposting UKHSA advice and Heat-Health Alerts.
- Schools Week reports that school leaders are seeking clarity from the DfE on the timing of the School Teachers’ Review Body report and the government’s teacher pay decision. The report says the government has indicated that wider political developments will not affect the publication timing.
- The DfE has released a Buying for Schools blog on free procurement training for school and trust staff, delivered through the DfE and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.
Further education
The DfE has updated its subcontracting funding rules for post-16 education and training for the 2026 to 2027 funding year. The rules apply to providers of education and training, excluding schools and academies, that receive adult skills fund provision in non-devolved areas or 16 to 19 funding.
Higher education
The DfE has announced plans for a “new deal for young people”, including proposals to shift investment towards youth apprenticeships and further action on poor-quality university courses.
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.