Following Ian Burman’s presentation on the new Charities (Protection & Social Investment) Act 2016 at the More London Charity Forum’s inaugural event in March 2016, we thought you would be interested to know that the government has now published a provisional timetable explaining when the different sections of the new Charities Act will take effect.

Some of you may have read the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Regina (Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Great Britain and Others) v Charity Commission which found that a charity was entitled to challenge the lawfulness of a production order made under section 52 Charities Act 211, by way of judicial review.

Many of you will have read about how the environmental charity, Friends of the Earth avoided restrictions on political activity by using a non-charitable company called Friends of the Earth Limited to carry out its anti-fracking campaign.

With over 1,000,000 trustee positions in England & Wales and estimates suggesting that almost half of all charities have at least one vacancy on their board, we believe that some individuals may genuinely want to get involved with charities and the voluntary sector, but perhaps lack understanding about how to get involved and become a trustee of a charity.