In furtherance of our last blog in relation to the forthcoming changes for charities, OSCR have advised that from 31 August 2025, the new rules about who is not allowed to be a charity trustee in Scotland will come into effect.
In addition to the criteria already contained in the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (2005 Act), the criteria for disqualification for charity trustees has been expanded to include convictions for terrorism, money laundering, bribery and perverting the course of justice.
There is also a notable change in that the criteria also now relates to those people undertaking a senior management function for a charity. In addition, it will also include volunteers who undertake a senior management function. This change can be quite significant, and charities should be checking and considering on whom this will have an impact on and what this means for the charity going forward.
As noted on OSCR’s website:
“Charity law provides two ways that a function carried out by an individual holding an office or employment is considered to be a senior management function:
- The function relates to the management of the charity for which the person is only directly accountable to the charity trustees
- The function involves control over the charity’s money and the person is only responsible for that function either:
- directly to the charity trustees, or
- to a person carrying out a senior management function that does not involve control over money.”
All charities should now prepare for this significant change by reading through OSCR’s guidance to see a full list of criteria and find out if the automatic disqualification applies to anyone within their charity. This guidance can be found here – OSCR | Guidance on disqualification criteria for charity trustees and those undertaking a senior management function
If you feel it does apply, you must take immediate action to ensure you comply with the law by 31 August 2025. In addition, when recruiting new trustees or people with a senior management function, it is imperative that you continue to review OSCR’s guidance to ensure that you remain compliant.
The 2005 Act does however provide a mechanism for OSCR to waive an automatic disqualification. If this is required, you may apply to OSCR for a waiver in terms of section 69(4) of the 2005 Act in relation to a particular charity, a type of charity, or to charities in general. However each case is considered on its own merits and there is no guarantee a waiver will be granted.
If you, or anyone in your organisation, requires further advice or assistance in this regard, please contact our team.
