< Previous | Contents | Next >

Draft Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill

1. Introduction and how to respond

Last May, the Executive published A Partnership for a Better Scotland. This sets out our vision for the future and specific plans for the next four years. A number of commitments focused on supporting the voluntary sector, and those who work or volunteer in the sector, to improve our quality of life. Having listened to the needs of the sector, we made a specific commitment to legislate to reform charity law.

We are publishing a draft Bill in this first year after the election as a step towards fulfilling the commitment made in A Partnership for a Better Scotland.

This paper and the attached draft Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Bill show how we plan to improve and strengthen the regulation of charities operating in Scotland in a way that builds on the value that charities bring to Scottish society, and recognises their independence from government. The draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (pp. 34-49 of this document) sets out what we think the impact of our proposals on charities will be.

This consultation is your opportunity to have your say about these plans before the Bill is introduced into the Scottish Parliament. Although we have not posed specific questions, your views on any aspect of the proposals within this document, or on the detail of the draft Bill itself, are welcome. We would be grateful if you could clearly indicate in your response which parts of the consultation paper or draft Bill you are responding to as this will aid our analysis of the responses received.

This consultation paper aims to summarise the key policy debates which arose during the drafting process, and sets out our reasons for suggesting particular options. It does not explain in detail the full contents of the Bill. Please refer to the draft Bill itself for a complete picture of the technical detail we are proposing.

You are invited to respond in writing to:
Myra Watson
Charity Bill Consultation
Voluntary Issues Unit
Scottish Executive Development Department
2-G, Victoria Quay
Edinburgh EH6 6QQ
Tel: 0131 244 2630
Fax: 0131 244 5508
Email: charitybill@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Please reply by 25 August 2004.

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.aspx). 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.

Access to consultation responses

We will make all responses available to the public in the Scottish Executive Library by 24 September 2004, and on the Scottish Executive consultation web pages, unless confidentiality is requested. All responses not marked confidential will be checked for any potentially defamatory material before being logged in the library or placed on the website.

< Previous | Contents | Next >