The Charities Act 2006 (c 50) is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 intended to alter the regulatory framework in which charities operate, partly by amending the Charities Act 1993.

Provisions

The Act contains three main provisions: definition of the requirements to qualify as a charity, the establishment of a Charity Tribunal to hear appeals from decisions of the Charity Commission, and alterations to the requirements for registering charities.

Charitable status

The Act imposes conditions on bodies wishing to attain or maintain charitable status.

For the purposes of the law, a charitable organisation must demonstrate that it serves the public interest

Public interest

The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...

, and that its purpose lies entirely in the promotion of one or more of the following causes:

• the advancement of education;
• the advancement of religion;
• the advancement of health or the saving of lives;
• the advancement of citizenship or community development;
• the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science;
• the advancement of amateur sport;
• the advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity;
• the advancement of environmental protection or improvement;
• the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage;
• the advancement of animal welfare;
• the promotion of the efficiency of the armed forces of the Crown, or of the efficiency of the police, fire and rescue services or ambulance services;

Prior to 2008, the law assumed that advancement of education or religion were automatically in the public interest. A "public benefit" now needs to be demonstrated.

Charity Tribunal

The Act established a "Charity Tribunal" to hear appeals from decisions of the Charity Commission, which previously lay only to the High Court

High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

. The Tribunal was abolished in September 2009 and its functions transferred to the First-tier Tribunal

First-tier Tribunal

The First-tier Tribunal is part of the administrative justice system of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, set out in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since taken on the functions of twenty previously...

.

Registration

The Act raises the threshold above which registration is required with the Charity Commission from £1,000 to £5,000. This is intended to reduce administration costs for small charities. In addition, charities which fall under certain exempted categories under the 1993 Act (such as certain Christian denominations) are now only exempted if their gross annual income is less than £100,000.

Section 79 - Commencement

The following orders have been made under section 79(2):

• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/309 (C. 13))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 2, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/3286 (C. 135))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 3, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/751 (C. 32))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 4, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/945 (C. 46))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 4, Transitional Provisions and Savings) (Amendment) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/841 (C. 55))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 5, Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Savings) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/3267 (C. 150))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 5, Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Savings) (Amendment) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/1942 (C. 103))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 6 and Commencement No. 5, Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Savings (Amendment)) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/2648 (C. 118))
• The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No. 7, Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Savings) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/503 (C. 36))

External links

• Charity commission briefing on the Act

UK Legislation

• Explanatory notes to the Charities Act 2006.