This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Location announced for charities watchdog
27/06/2003
Dundee will be the location for the Office of the
Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR) - a new body with the
role of regulating Scotland's 30,000 charities.
Showing where charitable donations go by making their
financial accounts more transparent will be part of its
remit.
It will also maintain a register of charitable
organisations and have powers to monitor and investigate
them, where necessary.
Communities Minister, Margaret Curran said: "We are
pressing ahead with modernising charity law and responding
swiftly to concerns raised. Tighter regulation is pivotal
to this reform.
"This new agency is central to our work. It will be
located in Dundee - creating around thirty jobs initially -
and follows our policy of dispersing Executive jobs
throughout Scotland. I want to move quickly on this and key
staff will be appointed shortly.
"We are committed to legislating on charity law, but I
want to get it right. I recently had a very productive
meeting with Jean McFadden, who chaired the review of
Scottish charity law, and we will work closely together
over the summer. I will also meet other representatives
from the sector in July to hear how they want OSCR's role
and legislation to develop.
"I am determined to move rapidly on this and will
announce our proposals for legislative reform later this
year."
Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator will maintain
a register and monitor, investigate and support Scotland's
charities.
Jean McFadden chaired the Scottish Charity Review
Commission. The Commission was set up to review the law
relating to charities in Scotland and to make
recommendations for reform. The final report was published
in May 2001.