Scottish charity law: consultation

Section 7: Inquiries into the former charity trustees of bodies which have ceased to exist and bodies which are no longer charities

63. The Court of Session, on application from OSCR, has the power to permanently disqualify the following individuals from being charity trustees:

• former charity trustees of a body which is no longer a charity
• former trustees of a charity which has ceased to exist, and
• individuals who were in management and control of a body which is no longer controlled by a charity.

64. However, OSCR does not have the power to make inquiries into a body which is no longer a charity, a body which is no longer controlled by a charity or a charity which has ceased to exist. This means that if OSCR is not aware of potential misconduct before a charity ceases to exist, before the charity is removed from the Scottish Charity Register (either at its request or OSCR’s power of removal), or while a body was controlled by a charity, OSCR cannot open an inquiry if information subsequently comes to light.

65. If OSCR cannot open an inquiry, it cannot gather the necessary evidence to allow it to make an application to the Court of Session.

66. This poses a risk that trustees who are guilty of serious misconduct could go on to be trustees of other charities if the misconduct was only discovered after the charity in question ceased to exist or was removed from the Register.

67. One option would be to give OSCR the power to make inquiries into a body which is no longer a charity, a body which is no longer controlled by a charity or a charity which has ceased to exist at any time, to allow them to gather the necessary evidence to make an application for permanent disqualification to the Court of Session.

Question 18. Should OSCR be able to make inquiries into former trustees of a body which is no longer a charity, a charity which has ceased to exist and individuals who were in management and control of a body which is no longer controlled by a charity?

Yes

No