Government plans to strengthen Charity Commission powers to counter extremism

Government plans to strengthen Charity Commission powers to counter extremism 

The Government has announced plans to increase the Charity Commission's powers to close down charities which promote extremism and prevent the sector from otherwise delivering positive work.

The Government is working with the Charity Commission to accelerate the process for investigating charities suspected of engaging in extremist behaviour, including strengthening the Commission's powers to close down such charities. This includes processing decisions more quickly and reviewing the appeals process.

The Government is also considering further measures of mandatory trustee ID verification, the digitisation of charity accounts, and strengthening local authority powers to issue fines and take other enforcement action against unlicensed street trading.

These measures are in addition to a new consultation launching shortly on plans to automatically ban individuals with a criminal conviction for hate crime from being charity trustees or senior managers. It will also consult on plans to strengthen the Charity Commission's powers to disqualify individuals who have promoted violence or hatred.