Scotland

Third Sector reports that the new legal form for charities, the Charitable Incorporated Organisation, has been delayed again and is not now expected to be available until late 2010 or early 2011, http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/985397/.

The Scottish Charity Awards recognise innovation and excellence in five categories: Community Action, Campaign of the Year, the Partnership Award, Charity Champion, and Charity of the Year. Deadline 9th April, http://www.scvo.org.uk/scvo/NewsAndEvents/ScottishCharityAwards.aspx.

Scotland's charity regulator OSCR has published its strategy to combat fraud in the sector. It is urging charities to report any fraud even if cases have already been dealt with, as such information provides "valuable intelligence" (as reported in Third Sector, http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/985329/).

Those with a professional interest in charity accounting may wish to read the response by Scottish regulator OSCR to the Accounting Standards Board consultation on the future of accounting. The ASB aims to converge UK accounting practices with International Financial Reporting Standards. Response is in pdf, 319KB, via OSCR news item.

A reminder that the consultation on "options for the implementation of the Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO)" closes on 26th February.

There is still an event in Glasgow to come (10th February), see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/15300/charities/law/SCIOs for further details.

The Scottish Charity Appeals Panel, set up to hear appeals on decisions made by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, has only heard one case in three years of operation, with one more pending. The Scottish Government is therefore looking to abolish it, while keeping a way of appealing OSCR decisions, and is consulting on 'Options for Future Charity Appeals Route in Scotland'.

Not a formal consultation, but the charities technical committee at ICAEW, the chartered accountants body, would be interested to hear from smaller England and Wales registered charities and their advisers on any issues they may have with current guidance on reporting and other requirements if they are operating in Scotland as well.

See item at http://www.ion.icaew.com/charityblog/19055.

The Scottish Government has agreed changes to its Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill following pressure from umbrella body SCVO and voluntary organisations across Scotland. This means that voluntary organisations will not have to buy licences costing several hundred pounds to hold fundraising sales.