Charity and Voluntary Sector
ScotGov: The final piece of legislation to protect the charitable status of Scotland's colleges came into force last week. The order addresses the power of Ministers to require a college to hand over the proceeds of a sale of its assets.
In the very unlikely event that, should in the future Ministers choose to exercise this power, the proceeds will now go to an educational charity nominated by Ministers, rather than directly to Ministers. This avoids possible conflict with charity law which requires that charity assets must always be used for a charitable purpose.
The order addresses the second of two separate concerns raised by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). Last June the Parliament exempted colleges from the standard requirement that a charity must operate free from Ministerial control.
Press release ~ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) ~ Scotland's Colleges ~ Scottish Funding Council
BIG: Organisations who are helping to prevent new HIV/AIDS infections, care for people living with HIV/AIDS and mitigate the impact of the epidemic are sharing in over £11.6m from the Big Lottery Fund. Six UK-based organisations have been awarded grants from BIG’s International Programme, which supports projects that help marginalised & impoverished overseas communities to improve their life chances. Of the 6 grants, four are going to projects that will work with people living with HIV/AIDS.
