Charity Commission automatic disqualification rules guidance updated

The guidance previously issued by the Commission for charities and trustees and individuals in senior management positions affected by the changes to the automatic disqualification rules has been updated to include sample declarations for senior charity manager and trustee  positions to confirm they are not disqualified.

The sample declarations themselves can be found in the 'Preparing for the rule changes' section of the guidance for charities, and a link to that same section is included in the guidance for individuals.

The new sample declarations are intended to be used as part of the pre-appointment process for trustees and those entering senior management positions. A charity may decide at which stage of the pre-appointment process to ask for the appropriate declarations, but it is important to ask for these before any appointment takes place, to ensure the charity does not appoint a disqualified person.

Individuals who are affected by the new rules may apply for a waiver online, which brings the disqualification to an end, in respect of:

• a named charity or named charities; or
• a class of charities – such as a group of charities with the same charitable purpose, or charities operating in the same area; or
• all charities.

If individuals affected by the new rules apply for a waiver before the new rules come into force on 1 August this year, their disqualification under the new rules will not take effect until they have received a decision, and any appeal has been decided.

For more information on the new automatic disqualification rules, see our previous blog post.  

Other Commission guidance – Finding new trustees (CC30), The Essential Trustee (CC3) and Charity Trustee: What’s involved (CC3a) – has also now been updated so that they reflect the recently published guidance on automatic disqualification, as well as that on safeguarding.