News you need to know - Baptist Union Corporation
Wednesday 24 December 2008
Charity Registration
Some of the first churches to attempt registration with the Charity Commission are telling us that they have not found the process too difficult. This is encouraging. If you need help please look at our leaflets C.16, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 by clicking here.
Public Benefit
The Charity Commission has recently published guidance on how the principles of public benefit relate to churches and other charities concerned with advancing religion. This guidance can be found by clicking here.
A new guidelines leaflet will be prepared to for churches offering specific help with Public Benefit questions.
Once they are registered with the Charity Commission churches will need to submit an Annual Report which contains a short section that shows how their activities have furthered their aims and how the aims have been carried out for the public benefit. Further guidance will be provided on this aspect but churches might like to refer to F10 Annual Reports which can be found here.
Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs)
A new guideline leaflet C29 Churches, Charities and Incorporation is now available on the Baptist Union website: http://www.baptist.org.uk/resources/resource_downloads/441.pdf. This leaflet contains information for churches considering whether a corporate structure might be appropriate for some of their activities. It also contains initial information about Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs), a new legal form of incorporation which is designed specifically for charities. There is a consultation about the details but although provisions in the 2006 Charities Act allowed for this kind of organisation this structure is unlikely to be available before autumn 2009.
Shared Ownership Manses
BUC guideline leaflet A4 Shared Ownership of a Manse has been updated to reflect in more detail the range of issues that churches and Ministers need to consider before entering into a shared ownership arrangement, particularly in the current economic environment. This leaflet is available here.
Planning Infrastructure Levy
There is encouraging news about legislation providing for a Planning Infrastructure Levy. This was to be raised whenever permission was granted for the redevelopment of land. This would have adversely affected charities and churches that might have had to pay what was effectively another tax, in addition to other costs being covered by voluntary contributions. Changes have been made to the legislation give some exemption for charities after representations to government. The arrangements will be subject to consultation, but the situation is better than it might have been.
