Charity Commission for England and Wales

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Non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales

Charity Commission for England and Wales

Logo Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.jpg
Type Non-ministerial government department
Founded 27 February 2007
Location Liverpool, London, Newport and Taunton
Area served England and Wales
Services Registration and regulation of charities; maintenance of the register of charities
Key people Dame Julia Unwin (Chair); David Holdsworth (Chief Executive Officer)
Website www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission

The Charity Commission for England and Wales (Welsh: Comisiwn Elusennau Cymru a Lloegr), usually known as the Charity Commission, is the regulator of charities in England and Wales and maintains the register of charities.[1][2] The Commission describes itself as "an independent, non-ministerial government department accountable to Parliament".[1]

The Commission was established as a body corporate by the Charities Act 2006, which abolished the office of Charity Commissioner for England and Wales and transferred the functions, property, rights and liabilities of the Charity Commissioners to the new Commission.[3] That provision came into force on 27 February 2007.[4] It now operates under the Charities Act 2011.[2]

According to the Commission, it works across four sites in Liverpool, London, Newport and Taunton, and employs around 450 people; its Newport office operates bilingually in Welsh and English.[1]

Legal status, objectives and functions

Under section 13 of the Charities Act 2011, the Charity Commission for England and Wales continues as a body corporate whose functions are performed on behalf of the Crown. In exercising its functions it "is not subject to the direction or control of any Minister of the Crown or of another government department", although this does not affect provision made by legislation or the Treasury's administrative controls over its expenditure.[2]

Section 14 of the Act gives the Commission five objectives:[5]

  • the public confidence objective: to increase public trust and confidence in charities
  • the public benefit objective: to promote awareness and understanding of the operation of the public benefit requirement
  • the compliance objective: to promote compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations
  • the charitable resources objective: to promote the effective use of charitable resources
  • the accountability objective: to enhance the accountability of charities to donors, beneficiaries and the general public.

Section 15 sets out its general functions: determining whether institutions are or are not charities; encouraging and facilitating the better administration of charities; identifying and investigating apparent misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of charities and taking remedial or protective action; determining whether public collections certificates should be issued; obtaining, evaluating and disseminating information, including maintaining an accurate and up-to-date register of charities; and giving information or advice to ministers.[6]

The Commission says its responsibilities include registering eligible organisations established for only charitable purposes, taking enforcement action where there is evidence of wrongdoing or harm (for example freezing a charity's bank account, or suspending or removing a trustee), ensuring charities meet their legal requirements including annual reporting, making information about each registered charity available to the public, and giving guidance. As registrar it decides whether organisations are charitable and should be registered, and removes charities that are not considered charitable, no longer exist or do not operate.[1] Its current strategy is the Charity Commission Strategy 2024 to 2029.[1]

Register of charities

The Charity Commission for England and Wales publishes the register of charities online. It can be searched free of charge by charity name, number, date of registration or area of operation, and gives each charity's name and address, trustees, work and aims, and finances. Charities are not on the register if their income is below £5,000 or they are "excepted", or if they are exempt from regulation by the Commission. Charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland are on separate registers.[7]

According to the Commission, the register also shows any actions the Commission has taken against a charity. It publishes a register of merged charities, a search by the postcode, parliamentary constituency or local authority area of a charity's named contact, and an API giving live data.[8] It also provides a daily extract of publicly available register data in JSON and tab-delimited formats, with separate tables covering charities, annual return history, annual return parts A and B, areas of operation, classifications, event history, governing documents, other names, other regulators, policies, published reports and trustees. The register website states that its content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated.[9]

Lobbying Bill 2013–14

In October 2013, the Charity Commission's chair William Shawcross stated: 'I think the government, in its response to the outcry from the charitable sector about the lobbying bill, has made significant changes which most of the sector, many charities, are happy with.'[10] Following this comment, Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, wrote to Shawcross, stating that the NCVO had serious concerns that 'are shared by our members and many other organisations in the sector.'[11]

In January 2014, a House of Lords amendment exempting charities from the bill was dropped after the Charity Commission sent an email to peers suggesting sham charities might use the exemption as a loophole. This intervention was criticised by a number of organisations representing the charitable sector.[12]

People

Current management and board

Charity Commission management and board, as listed on GOV.UK in October 2026[13]
Name Role
Dame Julia Unwin Chair
David Holdsworth Board member, Chief Executive Officer
Jan Lasik Director of Legal and Accountancy Services
Helen Earner Director of Regulatory Services
Paul Latham Director of Communications and Policy
Nick Baker Chief Operating Officer
Graham Rivers-Brown Director of Digital, Data and Technology
Pippa Britton OBE Board member
Rory Brooks CBE Board member
Shrenik Davda Board member
Tasnim Khalid Board member
Alan Mather Board member
Ann Phillips Board member
Kate Sayer Board member
Mark Simms OBE Board member

Board, 2013–14

Charity Commission board, 2013–14[14]
Name Role Notes
William Shawcross CVO Chair
Eryl Besse Board member since 2013
Peter Clarke Board member since 2013
Claire Dove Board member since 2013
Orlando Fraser Legal board member since 2013
Tony Leifer Board member since 2013
Nazo Moosa Board member since 2013
Gwythian Prins Board member since 2013
John Wood Board member reappointed

All new board members were appointed in 2013 for a three-year term; they took up their posts on the following dates: Peter Clarke (13 May), Claire Dove (1 July), Orlando Fraser (16 July), Tony Leifer (13 May), Nazo Moosa (13 May), Gwythian Prins (3 June) and Eryl Besse (3 June).[14]

Independent member of the audit committee (earlier listing)

Senior management team (earlier listing)

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Charity Commission, About us GOV.UK, accessed 22 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Charities Act 2011, section 13 legislation.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2026.
  3. ↑ Charities Act 2006, section 6 (as enacted) legislation.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2026.
  4. ↑ The Charities Act 2006 (Commencement No 1, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2007 (SI 2007/309), article 2 and Schedule legislation.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Charities Act 2011, section 14 legislation.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2026.
  6. ↑ Charities Act 2011, section 15 legislation.gov.uk, accessed 22 October 2026.
  7. ↑ GOV.UK, Search the charity register GOV.UK, accessed 22 October 2026.
  8. ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities Charity Commission, accessed 22 October 2026.
  9. ↑ Charity Commission for England and Wales, Full register download Register of Charities, accessed 22 October 2026.
  10. ↑ Tania Mason, Shawcross says sector is happy with lobbying bill changes civilsociety.co.uk, 10 October 2013.
  11. ↑ Abi Rimmer, NCVO chief questions Charity Commission chair's comments on lobbying bill Third Sector Online, 16 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Sam Burne James, Sector bodies criticise Charity Commission over letter that 'torpedoed' lobbying bill amendment Third Sector Online, 20 January 2014.
  13. ↑ The Charity Commission, The Charity Commission GOV.UK, accessed 22 October 2026.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Cabinet Office, New board members appointed to Charity Commission GOV.UK, last updated 22 May 2013, accessed 10 March 2014.
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