Industry News
Charities Act public benefit guidelines set to be published
Posted on 17th May 2007
The Charity Commission is preparing to publish guidance on what constitutes "public benefit" as set out in the Charities Act 2006.
The Act, which became law last November, is due to be phased in over the course of the next two years, and for the first time requires many schools defining themselves as charities to prove that they are of public benefit.
A three month consultation on the principles of the term was carried out at the beginning of the year by the Commission, which will publish its findings next month.
The government has said that the Charities Act will provide a greater degree of transparency and accountability to interested parties such as parents of children in the independent sector, as well as making the administration of such charities more effective.
Standards in the sector were also boosted by the recent implementation of the 2007 Independent Schools Standards Regulations, which toughens the approval process for new staff in independent schools via mandatory enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and other pre-employment verification.