Scottish charity law: consultation

Section 3: Criteria for automatic disqualification of charity trustees and individuals employed in senior management positions in charities

39. Categories of person automatically disqualified as charity trustees in Scotland are:

• Someone with an unspent conviction for an offence involving dishonesty or an offence under the 2005 Act.
• Someone who is an undischarged bankrupt or has a Protected Trust Deed.
• Someone who has been removed under either Scottish or English Law or the courts from being a charity trustee.
• Someone who is disqualified from being a company director.

40. Recent changes to the equivalent legislation for England and Wales have extended disqualification criteria for charity trustees, to include the following (as well as making all disqualification criteria applicable also to senior employees):

• Unspent convictions for perjury, perverting the course of justice, misconduct in public office, contempt of court and specified bribery, terrorism and money laundering offences.
• Individuals subject to terrorist asset freezing orders.
• Disobedience of specified Charity Commission orders.
• Individuals subject to notification requirements of Part 2 Sexual Offences Act 2003 (on the Sex Offenders register).

41. This means that there are inconsistencies across the UK in respect of the criteria for disqualification and removal of trustees.

42. To ensure these criteria in Scotland are fit for purpose, one option is to extend them to match the criteria for disqualification in England and Wales, with the provision that individuals can still apply to OSCR for a waiver from disqualification as the law currently allows.

Question 8. Should the criteria for disqualification and removal of charity trustees be extended to match the criteria in England and Wales?

Yes

No

Question 9. Should the criteria for disqualification and removal also be extended to those in certain senior management positions?

Yes

No

If you wish to explain your responses to any of the questions in Section 3, please do so in the box below. (e.g. why you think yes, why you think no, what criteria for disqualification and removal should / should not be included, are there additional criteria you think should be included):