Independent Examiner’s Directions
An independent examination is not an audit, and it is not whatever the examiner decides to do. The Commission prescribes the work.…
Glossary
Worker
UK employment law has three statuses, not two: employee, worker, and genuinely self-employed. Worker sits in the middle and is the one…
Designated safeguarding lead
The DSL is who staff and volunteers go to when something happens. The role is executive, not governance. In regulated sectors such…
Waiver of disqualification
Disqualification is not always permanent or absolute. Both the Charity Commission and OSCR can waive it. OSCR may waive a disqualification generally…
DBS check
Charities working with children or adults at risk routinely need DBS checks. What catches organisations out is that eligibility is a legal…
Quorum
Quorum is one of those governance words that only matters when it goes wrong — at which point it matters a lot.…
Volunteer agreement
The purpose of the agreement is to be clear without being binding — which is a genuinely difficult drafting problem. Avoid language…
Volunteer
Volunteering is not a legal status so much as the absence of one. There is no contract, no obligation to attend, and…
Cy-près
Charitable gifts are made for purposes, and purposes can fail — the beneficiary class disappears, the need is met, the appeal raises…