From 30 June 2025, all Scottish charities are required to submit charity trustee information to OSCR.
Any charity completing a new online annual return created from 30 June 2025, will be required to include charity trustee information as part of the submission.
Early indications from OSCR were positive showing that in early August almost 10% of charities on the Scottish Charity Register had already submitted charity trustee information. OSCR’s blog on the subject can be found here OSCR | Strong early response as Scottish charities embrace new charity trustee reporting
It is now mandatory for all charities to provide trustee information. This information must be submitted exclusively through OSCR Online by an OSCR Online charity user. All charities should be putting steps in place to collate the required information including details required for each of the trustees. The information that each charity must submit for each charity trustee is as follows:
- Full name
- Home address
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Date of birth
- Date of appointment
For those charities who are also companies, this will be similar to much of the information you will have already provided to Companies House. However this new change will provide a clear and transparent view of those individuals who are responsible for the control and management of a charity.
It should be noted however that the majority of the information provided to OSCR will be kept securely and retained by them simply to allow them to regulate charities more effectively and to contact trustees when they need to.
Whilst the information for each of the charity trustees should be provided now, it is intended that the information currently shown on the Scottish Charity Register will remain unchanged until early 2026. From this date, the only information that will be made public will the first and last name of each trustee. Trustee addresses or other contact details will not be published.
A charity trustee’s information will also be retained by OSCR for two years after they cease to be a trustee, after this time it will be deleted.
If you, or anyone in your organisation, requires further advice or assistance in this regard, please contact our team.
