Charity and Voluntary Sector

Cabinet Office: Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, has made the third commencement order of the Charities Act 2006.  This will bring into force a range of changes to bring charity law up to date and give charities greater flexibility.
 
The main changes are:
* Allowing charities to pay trustees for goods & services
* Wider powers to help the Charity Commission protect charities
* Flexibility for charities changing their charitable purpose
* Power for the Charity Commission to remove or suspend membership of a charity
* Helping charities deal with difficult circumstances
* Establishment of a new Charity Tribunal
Press release ~ CO - Charities Act 2006 ~ Office of the Third Sector (OTS) ~ Charity Commission – Charities Act 2006
 
TS: A brand new tribunal, set up to make it easier for charities to appeal against decisions of the sector regulator, started work last week, administered by the Tribunals Service. It has been created by the Charities Act 2006 and is designed to provide a more informal, cheaper and easier independent route of appeal against decisions of the Charity Commission.
 
The President of the Charity Tribunal is Alison McKenna and she will be supported by five legal members and seven non-legal members.  They are currently being recruited by the Judicial Appointments Commission for appointment by the Lord Chancellor.  The Tribunals Service expects legal members to be in place in the spring and the latter in the summer.
Press release ~ Charity Tribunal ~ Judicial Appointments Commission - Selection exercises in progress ~ Charity Commission
 
BIG: ITV’s News At Ten co-anchor Julie Etchingham is calling for people across the UK to ‘go for gold’ with the People’s Millions contest launched last week.  The Big Lottery Fund is giving communities up & down the country the chance to win the public’s support in their region and share in £5m of Lottery good cause money.

Five awards of up to £50,000 will be up for grabs in each of ITV’s 18 regions – a total of 90 awards across the UK and a potential quarter of a million pounds for each region for projects that improve & enrich the communities they live in.

Organisations across the regions have until the 15 May 2008 to enter the contest.  The finalists will be screened on ITV regional evening news programmes later in the year when the public in each region will be able to cast their vote for the projects they want to win the Lottery good cause cash.
Press release ~ People’s Millions
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