The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has now confirmed that it will review its decision to exclude sixteen statutory national museums and galleries from the commencement of the “ex gratia” powers in the Charities Act 2022 – and that it will do so by February 2027.
The move comes against the backdrop of criticism from the parliamentary body, the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI), which reported DCMS’s approach on this issue to the special attention of both Houses of Parliament last week (21 January 2026).
As set out in our previous blog, in November DCMS had taken the unusual step of “excluding” the property of sixteen national statutory museums and galleries from the new law, on the basis that government disagreed with the law, and that the full implications of the Bill were not “debated in Parliament”. As noted in our previous blog, this argument is incorrect: the impact on statutory charities was clearly explained in the material before Parliament. It is also constitutionally beside the point; because it is not for government to render a law nugatory because it did not think that Parliamentarians focussed on the “right” issues.
In its January report, JCSI reflects this, making clear that it “deprecates the Department’s implicit impeaching and questioning of the proceedings leading to the 2022 Act and notes that if the Government disagrees with legislation that Parliament has passed, the correct approach is to pass new legislation rather than seeking to undercut it by simply not commencing it”.
However, JCSI stopped short of finding that DCMS’s action was unlawful for breaching the Fire Brigades Union test. This is because, in response to the JCSI’s questions, DCMS has now confirmed that the exclusion decision was only temporary. It will review it as part of the review of the Charities Act 2022, which is due within five years of the Act receiving Royal Assent (by February 2027).
It is unclear what this review will look like. However, as stated above, the DCMS memorandum to JCSI notes that they failed to commence the provision because they thought the issue should be subject to Parliamentary debate, and consultation with the sector and the public. These are presumably the tools that DCMS will need to engage to properly review the issue before next February. We look forward to seeing DCMS’ next steps as it undertakes its review.
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