Scottish Government consults on measures to increase transparency and accountability of charities

Charity - Image credit: Nick Youngson/Alpha Stock Images/CC BY-SA 3.0

The Scottish Government has begun consulting on new measures to increase transparency, accountability and public trust in charities.

The consultation sets out a number of options to improve the current regulatory system.

Options include requiring all charities on the Scottish Charity Register to publish annual reports and accounts in full, removal of charities from the register that persistently fail to submit annual reports and accounts, all charities having to retain a connection in Scotland and creating an external register of charity trustees.

In the 2018 Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) survey, 88 per cent of people said that seeing evidence of a charity's achievements and knowing how much of their donation went to the cause would improve their trust in charities.

Communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: "Charities play a vital role in our society, from supporting individuals and communities, to informing policy at a national level, they are key to us achieving our ambition of creating a fairer and more prosperous country.

"It is therefore important that we do all we can to maintain and increase public trust and confidence in the charity sector and making sure legislation supports that.

“I would encourage anyone with an interest in the charity sector to share their views by responding to this consultation."

The consultation runs from 7 January to 1 April 2019.