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1. INTRODUCTION
In November 2004 the Executive introduced the Charities
and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish
Parliament. The Bill improves and strengthens the
regulation of charities operating in Scotland in a way that
builds on the value that charities bring to Scottish
society.
This consultation paper sets out our proposals for the
accounting regulations that flow from the Bill. The Bill
provides an ideal opportunity to update and modernise the
existing regulations to reflect current
UK accounting practice and to ensure
that the requirements are proportional to the sizes of
charities. Our proposals are intended to help to maintain
public confidence in the sector without placing undue
burdens on charities. The partial Regulatory Impact
Assessment (pp. 31 of this document) sets out what we think
the impact of our proposals on charities will be.
The consultation is your opportunity to have your say
about these plans before the regulations are drafted and
laid before Parliament. Although we have highlighted key
areas for comment, your views on any aspect of the
proposals within this document are welcome.
You are invited to respond in writing to:
Fiona Warne
Charity Bill Accounts Regulations
Consultation
Voluntary Issues Unit
Scottish Executive Development Department
2-G, Victoria Quay
Edinburgh EH6 6QQ
Tel: 0131 244 4023
Fax: 0131 244 5508
Email:
charitybill@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Please reply by 4 July 2005
This consultation, and all other Scottish Executive
consultation exercises, can be viewed online at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations.
You can telephone Freephone 0800 77 1234 to find out where
your nearest public internet access point is.
The Scottish Executive now has an email alert system for
SE consultations (
SEconsult at
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/seConsult).
This system allows stakeholder individuals and
organisations to register and receive a weekly email
containing details of all new
SE consultations (including web links).
SEconsult complements, but in no way
replaces
SE distribution lists, and is designed
to allow stakeholders to keep up to date with all
SE consultations activity, and therefore
be alerted at the earliest opportunity to those of most
interest. We would encourage you to register.
Handling your response
We need to know how you wish your response to be handled
and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response
to be made public. Please complete and return the
Respondent Information Form which is
enclosed with this consultation paper as this will ensure
that we treat your response appropriately. If you ask for
your response not to be published we will regard it as
confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.
All respondents should be aware that the Scottish
Executive are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of
Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to
consider any request made to it under the Act for
information relating to responses made to this consultation
exercise.
Next steps in the process
Where respondents have given permission for their
response to be made public (see the attached Respondent
Information Form), these will be made available to the
public in the Scottish Executive Library and on the
Scottish Executive web pages by 25 July 2005. We will check
all responses where agreement to publish has been given for
any potentially defamatory material before logging them in
the library or placing them on the website. You can make
arrangements to view responses by contacting the
SE Library on 0131 244 4565. Responses
can be copied and sent to you, but a charge may be made for
this service.
What happens next?
Following the closing date, all responses will be
analysed and considered along with any other available
evidence to help us reach a decision on the charity
accounting regulations. We aim to issue a report on this
consultation process by the end of September 2005
Comments and complaints
If you have any comments about how this consultation
exercise has been conducted, please send them to the
address above.
THE SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE CONSULTATION
PROCESS
Consultation is an essential and important aspect of
Scottish Executive working methods. Given the wide-ranging
areas of work of the Scottish Executive, there are many
varied types of consultation. However, in general, Scottish
Executive consultation exercises aim to provide
opportunities for all those who wish to express their
opinions on a proposed area of work to do so in ways which
will inform and enhance that work.
The Scottish Executive encourages consultation that is
thorough, effective and appropriate to the issue under
consideration and the nature of the target audience.
Consultation exercises take account of a wide range of
factors, and no two exercises are likely to be the
same.
Typically Scottish Executive consultations involve a
written paper inviting answers to specific questions or
more general views about the material presented. Written
papers are distributed to organisations and individuals
with an interest in the issue, and they are also placed on
the Scottish Executive web site enabling a wider audience
to access the paper and submit their responses
1. Consultation exercises may also involve seeking views
in a number of different ways, such as through public
meetings, focus groups or questionnaire exercises. Copies
of all the written responses received to a consultation
exercise (except those where the individual or organisation
requested confidentiality) are placed in the Scottish
Executive library at Saughton House, Edinburgh (K Spur,
Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh, EH11 3XD,
telephone 0131 244 4565).
All Scottish Executive consultation papers and related
publications (eg, analysis of response reports) can be
accessed at:
Scottish
Executive consultations (
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations
)
The views and suggestions detailed in consultation
responses are analysed and used as part of the decision
making process, along with a range of other available
information and evidence. Depending on the nature of the
consultation exercise the responses received may:
- indicate the need for policy development or
review
- inform the development of a particular policy
- help decisions to be made between alternative
policy proposals
- be used to finalise legislation before it is
implemented
Final decisions on the issues under consideration will
also take account of a range of other factors, including
other available information and research evidence.
While details of particular circumstances
described in a response to a consultation exercise may
usefully inform the policy process, consultation
exercises cannot address individual concerns and
comments, which should be directed to the relevant
public body.
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