Withers Worldwide

Guidance renewed

One of the first guidance notes that OSCR produced was one on ‘consents and notifications' - and so naturally this is also one of the first publications to be updated.

OSCR are currently in the process of reviewing it and it is planned that the updated version will be published this year with the addition of explanatory text and more practical examples. A small group of umbrella bodies, registered charities and their advisors have been invited to give OSCR feedback on the revised publication.

How resilient are you?

OSCR is clear that one of its main aims is to support the charitable sector in Scotland and so it has commissioned some research which aims to discover what makes a charity best able to survive in an ever changing landscape.

The research, which will be carried out shortly, will look at whether there are any links between a charity's profile and characteristics and its resilience - in particular how a charity is able to adapt, recover or return to form in the face of challenges and change.

It is hoped that the results of the research will be published in Spring 2010.

To whom it may concern

The Charities References in Documents (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (as amended) spells out how charities must refer to their status in documents. The purpose of these regulations is to ensure that there is clarity for the general public which leads to greater confidence in the sector. The regulations apply to all:

• business letters;
• e-mails;
• advertisements;
• notices;
• official publications;
• invoices; and
• receipts.

OSCR has indicated that it intends to take a proactive approach to enforcing these regulations and as such it is monitoring all recruitment sections of national newspapers and identifying charity job advertisements to ensure compliance.

The types of document listed above must contain:

• the charity's name (as it appears on the register);
• any other name by which the charity is commonly known;
• the Scottish registration number; and
• if the name does not contain the word ‘charity' or ‘charitable' it must also state that it is a charity.

If you would like to read more about the regulations, guidance can be found on OSCR website.

For more information about this please contact Chris Priestley