Incident reports made to Scottish Charity Regulator fell by 17% since last year

The annual report published recently by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator announced a 17% fall in the number of submitted incident reports over the last year.

OSCR received 527 incident reports in the past year, down more than 100 on the previous year. 

Other matters reported on included OSCR receiving 770 new applications for charitable status this year, meaning there were a total of 24,975 charities on the OSCR's register at the end of March 2024.

Of these however, 2520 were not up to date with filing their annual return and accounts, leading to the removal of 400 inactive charities from the Scottish Charity Register.  Additionally, OSCR received an increase in whistleblowing reports; 10 reports were submitted this year, up from eight in 2022/2023.

The OSCR launched its 2023-2026 corporate strategy this year and launched new regulatory priorities to help ensure that the Scottish charity space is regulated efficiently and effectively.

Strengthened by The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023, OSCR has been empowered to open inquiries into defunct charities and to appoint interim trustees to charities, even when it had not been requested by the charity.

The new powers granted to OSCR highlight the need for charities in Scotland to ensure that they are up to date with their filings and accounts. Otherwise, the organisation will run the risk of being investigated by the regulator for inactivity.

OSCR's Revitalising Trusts Project investigates charities that appear inactive and seeks to identify charitable funds lying dormant so as to work with trustees to reactivate those funds or find new uses for them. Charities at risk of investigation include those who:

• Have not spend or received any funds in the last five years; or
• Have donated less than 30% of their total income in the last five years.  

It is therefore important that all charities in the situations outlined above are aware that they may receive regulatory engagement from OSCR as a result and can justify the decisions they have taken on governance and expenditure.