WIREDGOV

On the 12 November 2018 the service you use to update your charity details is changing.

Trustees of all charities have a legal obligation to keep the details on the charity register accurate and up to date.

This helps maintain public trust and confidence in the charity sector, and enables the Commission, as the regulator, to contact you with important regulatory information.

From 12 November 2018 all charities will be required to check and update their details before they can access the annual return.

This handy guide explains what information is covered by the service (ODT, 140KB) so you can collect it before you log in. It also explains which parts of that information we will make available to the public.

From the 12 November the first time you sign in to do your annual return or update your charity details the service will:

• guide you through several screens that show your charity details
• highlight where you have missing information that needs to be provided to us (this will be tailored to your charity depending on how up to date your details are on the register)

You will be able to save your charity information and return back to the service if needed. When all the missing information has been provided you will be able to continue to submit your annual return.

You will only need to provide all the missing information the first time you sign in to do your annual return, or update your charity details after the 12 November.

Whenever you need to update your charity details in future you can choose which sections or information to edit and update.

Changes to public display names for trustees

From the 12 November trustees will not be able to add a public display name on the charity register. This means their full legal name will show to the public.

This is because charity trusteeship is a serious responsibility. Trustees have independent control over, and legal responsibility for, a charity’s management and administration. They need to be accountable to the public.

If trustees have already been granted a dispensation for their legal name not to be displayed to the public on the register, this will be retained. There will be no need to apply for a dispensation again.

Changes to trustee and charity contact details

We will be asking you to check that the details for your trustees remain up to date. This includes adding any new trustees and their contact details. You must make sure that each person named is not disqualified from acting as a trustee.

You will need to remove the details of any trustees who are no longer involved with your charity.

When you update trustee details, if they are linked to other charities the changes will take effect across all other charity entries too. This will help to keep the register accurate and reduce duplicate entries.

Trustees will also need to provide their home address and telephone number. This helps with validating the identity of trustees. No trustee contact details or home addresses will be shown to the public.

Changes to email addresses

We will ask that all trustees provide their email address, or confirm that they do not have one.

We will use this email address to contact trustees about their charity. The address that is provided will be applied to all their entries on the register.

We will only contact trustees by email if we are handling a case about your charity, or to provide regulatory alerts/updates to help you to run your charity effectively.

We will not send you unsolicited email, marketing materials or anything outside of our regulatory remit.

Changes to bank account information

We will be asking you to provide details of all your UK bank/building society accounts. This information will not be available to the public.

We will use the information to make sure that charities are protecting and managing their funds appropriately, where we need to. Trustees have a duty to act responsibly, reasonably and honestly and protect charity funds an assets so that they are only used to support or carry out its purposes.

Working inside the regulated banking system is the best way to achieve this. Holding a bank account also aids with transparency providing an audit trail and records, such as bank statements.

Data processing

You can read our privacy notice which explains how we process data when you update or change your charity details.