The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has today announced a consultation for next year’s annual return. This consultation is the second part of a two-year project that is reviewing the key information that we collect and display from charities.

The annual return is a key regulatory tool that is used for two main purposes. It enables the Commission to collect information about charities that it can use to identify issues of concern, either in specific charities or areas of broader risk across the charity sector. It is also the source of much of the information that is displayed on the Register of Charities – a key driver to allow the public and donors to find out more information about charities.

The Commission’s intention is to shift to a more dynamic annual return, that is better targeted and easier to use for charities – those charities that are smaller and have more simple operating structures will answer fewer questions, whereas those that are larger and more complex will be required to answer more.

The consultation also proposes some changes to the questions that are being asked, including the addition of some new questions and the removal of others. These changes will help ensure that the questions reflect the priority risk areas in our strategic plan and help us tackle new regulatory risks as they emerge, we also hope they will strengthen the sector’s accountability and provide information that the public and others expect to be able to see.

For each new question we have considered how the information will help meet a regulatory aim and further our statutory function. However, we are also mindful of balancing these needs with the need not to create an undue additional burden on charities.

Further changes made to the service itself, in line with the improvements across our digital services, will mean that the annual return is easy-to-use and intuitive for charities regardless of their size and structure.

Helen Stephenson, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, said:

The annual return is an essential regulatory tool for the Commission, but also a window for the public to see important information about charities. Ensuring that we are collecting the right information, in a way that is simple for charities to understand, is absolutely vital.

We believe the changes that are proposed will help strengthen our ability to regulate charities and improve public trust and confidence. The improved digital service being offered will also result in a much easier service to use that is based on the needs of charities. The voice of charities and their umbrella bodies will be important to inform our approach and we look forward to engaging widely and constructively in the coming weeks.

We are keen to hear from charities that complete the annual return, as well as users of our online register and those that have an interest in the information we collect and publish about charities. You can respond to this consultation by completing an online survey and supplementary information can be provided by email. The final deadline for responses is 5pm on Friday 24 November 2017.

There will also be other opportunities and methods for giving us your feedback, including round table discussions with interested parties and user-testing of the proposed questions, we will publish details of these through the consultation period.

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
2. Search for charities on our online register.

The International Development Secretary has today announced that the Department for International Development (DFID) will allocate further support to the flood response in Nepal, including by providing clean water, sanitation and hygiene services, as well as support immediate food security needs and health support.

Monsoon flooding and landslides have affected an estimated 8mn and 1.7mn people in Bangladesh and Nepal respectively.

DFID is allocating £400,000 to the Nepal Red Cross Society in partnership with the British Red Cross and International Federation of the Red Cross for monsoon flood response. 75% of this support is earmarked for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), livelihood recovery, and health. This support will:

• Provide safe water supply to over 13,000 people
• Ensure over 3,000 of those most severely affected receive immediate food and financial support
• Reach over 2,000 women and girl’s with health supplies

The International Development Secretary, Priti Patel, said:

The devastating flooding in South Asia is truly heart-breaking. Entire communities have lost their homes, their livelihoods and their loved ones.

The UK has stepped up to support the region, our pre-positioned relief supplies ensured thousands of people received immediate support and we continue to provide assistance to vulnerable people who have lost everything.

Today’s announcement will provide clean water and prevent the spread of deadly and crippling diseases, as we continue to work to meet the immediate needs of people on the ground.

This announcement is the latest support the UK has provided to Bangladesh and Nepal. This includes:

• In Bangladesh, the UK’s START fund has already allocated £660,000 for NGOs working to provide food, financial assistance, water and sanitation quickly to 62,000 people in the worst affected areas. The UK is also funding work to assess needs and humanitarian staffing to lead effective coordination of responses.
• In Nepal, the Humanitarian Staging Area at the capital’s airport in Kathmandu was built with funding from UK aid and provides one of the main relief coordination centres for the government. UK preparedness support, through Oxfam, is providing immediate relief supplies to 30,000 people for emergency shelter and WASH. DFID is also supporting overall coordination.
• The UK will continue to monitor the situation in both countries, and work with their governments to support immediate needs and to help people and communities affected to recover once flooding has receded.
• Flooding has also affected India, where the UK continues to monitor the situation, and our thoughts are with those that have been affected. The Indian Government is leading the response in providing humanitarian assistance to those that require it.

Notes for Editors:

• The Governments of Bangladesh and Nepal are leading the response to monsoon flooding that has affected an estimated 8mn and 1.7m people in the two countries.
• Floods occur annually during Bangladesh’s monsoon season and the Government of Bangladesh has well established response mechanisms in place.
• The Start Fund is a global multi-donor humanitarian response fund managed by consortia of NGOs that provides rapid funding within 72 hours of an emergency unfolding. The fund has specific resources earmarked to respond to emergencies in Bangladesh.
• The UK supports the Humanitarian Affairs Adviser in the UN Resident Coordinator’s (RC) office, which leads coordination of the flood response.
• DFID Bangladesh is also providing £3m to help communities to recover from the impact of floods earlier in the year
• The Government of Nepal formally requested international assistance on Friday, 18 August and the UK Government is providing assistance and helping to co-ordinate the flooding response using support from our existing country budget.
• The UK is supporting the in-country coordination mechanisms in Nepal, including through support to the UN Resident Coordinators Office and the logistics cluster.

ENDS