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
- Sector general
- Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
- Safeguarding
- Funders and funding
- Fundraising
- Cybersecurity
- AI
- Data and privacy
- Public procurement and subsidy control
- Trade marks and company law
- Health and social care
- Mutuals
- Social enterprise
- Social investment / social impact investment
- Faith-based organisations
- International development
- Education
Charity Commission
The Charity Commission has published a blog and guidance promoting the role of charity trustee.
Sector general
The government has published new research mapping the UK civil society sector, which analyses data from ten regulators and draws on records of over 770,000 organisations. It found that charities with an annual income between £1m and £100m account for nearly two-thirds of public procurement contracts and a larger share of funding, as compared to micro and small charities which are largely absent from procurement markets.
On 9 June NAVCA and ACRE are running a free practical webinar designed for voluntary sector organisations navigating local government reorganisation. The webinar will explore what to expect over the next two years, and what it means for your organisation — for example, considering funding, contracts, service delivery, partnerships, rural issues, and real examples.
An update from Bates Wells Partners Chetal Patel and Rachel Mathieson and Knowledge Lawyer Gill McKearney explains how Right to Work checks are expected to expand in Autumn 2026 to include various casual and zero-hours workers. The article includes practical tips to help you prepare.
Equity, equality, diversity and inclusion
We mentioned last week the long-awaited draft Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) ‘Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations’ has now been published and laid before Parliament. This draft Code will be hugely significant for organisations once approved, because although it does not change the law, courts and tribunals must take it into account when deciding challenges. Read more in an update from Bates Wells Partners Mindy Jhittay and Suhan Rajkumar, or sign up for our webinar on 9 June about the practical implications of the updated draft Code and what this means now for organisations.
Bates Wells Senior Associate and Knowledge Lawyer Thérèse Rankin has shared an update on the Employment Tribunal case LS v NHS England, which considered gender identity, protected beliefs and single-sex facilities in the workplace.
Safeguarding
Civil Society has reported on a new All-Party Parliamentary Group inquiry that is aiming to improve protection for children in faith settings. The inquiry is seeking evidence from faith organisations on their understanding and application of the definition of ‘regulated activity’ in relation to children. Concerns have been raised that volunteers can come into contact with children in faith settings but are not considered as being involved in regulated activity and are therefore not subject to enhanced DBS checks, increasing the potential risk of harm. The deadline for submissions is 10 July 2026.
Funders and funding
See ‘Sector general’ above.
Fundraising
The Fundraising Regulator has published guidance for transport network organisations (such as train companies) which allow charitable cash collections to take place on their premises. This includes tips such as checking what type of organisation is looking to fundraise (e.g. a charity, CIC, or fundraising agency), having a robust booking system, and agreeing written standards of behaviour with any fundraiser in advance.
Cybersecurity
The government has published the results of its Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/26 of UK businesses and charities. It found “a significant increase in the proportion of charities saying they experienced cyber breaches or attacks weekly or more (from 18% in 2024/2025 to 26% in 2025/2026)”. Despite this, the proportion of charities running staff training and awareness raising activities fell from 21% to 17% over the same period.
AI
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has sent a letter to the government about how it plans to enable safe AI-powered innovation. The ICO is currently developing an updated AI workplan for 2026/27, and the letter includes various actions it will commit to.
See ‘Social investment / social impact investment’ below.
Data and privacy
See ‘Cybersecurity’ and ‘AI’ above.
Public procurement and subsidy control
The government has published a research report commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the impacts of public services being delivered by civil society organisations. The report seeks “to develop a Theory of Change articulating how and why civil society involvement in public service delivery generates value” in support of the Civil Society Covenant and to inform future policy.
See ‘Sector General’ above.
Trade marks and company law
The Intellectual Property Office and Companies House are asking businesses to be vigilant of misleading requests for payments, sent by organisations not affiliated with government. Bates Wells Partner Mat Healey adds “We are particularly seeing scams targeted at the 10 year renewal date for trade marks. We can tell whether a request for payment is real or fake within a few seconds so it’s always an option to ask us to double check if a request is legitimate.”
Health and social care
An update from the Care Quality Commission explains how it plans to prioritise assessments of health and social care providers.
Mutuals
The Financial Conduct Authority has published an update about its work on mutual societies.
Social enterprise
NPC has published a blog responding to growing use of the term ‘systems change’ across the UK impact economy, noting ongoing confusion about what it means in practice. The blog sets out NPC’s view of systems change “as both a process and an outcome designed to shift the conditions of a wider system that are holding a problem in place” and sets out its ‘six conditions’ framework as a way of understanding how systems operate.
On 19 May 2026 the Commercial Payments Bill was presented to Parliament, with its second reading scheduled for 9 June. The Bill includes a 60-day cap on payment terms for large businesses paying smaller suppliers and would introduce mandatory interest on late payments (8% above the Bank of England base rate). The Bill would also give the Small Business Commissioner more power to investigate payment practices, adjudicate disputes, and take enforcement action against persistent late payers, including financial penalties.
Social investment / social impact investment
The World Economic Forum has published an article arguing that traditional venture capital timelines often misalign with the needs of social enterprises, which tend to require patient capital, flexible financing and longer time horizons. The article highlights alternative approaches including blended finance, impact-linked loans and outcome-based mechanisms that aim to better align financial returns with long term social impact.
NPC has published a short blog reflecting on whether funders’ strategies have kept pace with changes being driven by AI. The blog sets out four levels of change as a way of understanding the shift caused by AI and shares learning from The National Lottery Community Fund as an example of how funders are approaching AI in practice.
Faith-based organisations
See ‘Safeguarding’ above.
International development
Bond has shared reflections from the Global Partnerships Conference held on 19-20 May.
Education
General
The Secretary of State for Education has written to the chief executive of the Competition and Marketing Authority asking that it conduct an independent review of the English early years childcare market. The Secretary of State has also launched a new free tool to help parents make the most of the childcare offer, from finding local provision to planning and getting exactly what they are entitled to.
The Department for Work & Pensions has published ‘Young people and work: interim report’, the independent report by Rt Hon Alan Milburn on the discovery phase of the review of the increase in the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training. The report found that the problem is deepening and that fundamental reform is required.
Schools
As anticipated, the Department for Education (DfE) has updated its statutory guidance ‘School suspensions and permanent exclusions’, particularly on off-site direction, to reflect the recent Royal Assent of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act. This guidance will come into force from 26 July this year. Through proposed amendments to existing statutory regulations (also due to come into force on 26 July), academies and pupil referral units will be allowed to make off-site directions similarly to maintained schools.
Higher education
The DfE is seeking views regarding proposals on fees charged by the Office for Students (OfS) to higher education providers. This consultation supports a review into the fees charged by OfS as regulator. Two webinars are scheduled for 10 June and 18 June to provide more information on the consultation.
The OfS has published independent research on what students think about freedom of speech, their experiences, and the obstacles they have observed during their time in higher education. The findings show that students value their freedom of speech but worry about the social and academic consequences of raising controversial topics.
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.