Final removals commence

15 March 2007

OSCR has begun to remove from the Scottish Charity Register, the final batch of charities it believes to be inactive. 

This latest removals process concludes a sustained two-year effort by OSCR to establish contact with all the charities whose records it inherited from HM Revenue and Customs.

OSCR published its final list of charities scheduled for removal in January when it announced the 15th March deadline, embarking on a widespread media, advertising and direct marketing campaign to alert charities and the public to its intended action.

From the 5,615 charities listed for removal, 730 have since been confirmed as active and will not be removed.  That leaves 4,885 charities which OSCR has reason to believe are now inactive and face losing their charitable status.  However, even now, if any of these charities contact OSCR, reinstatement can be discussed.

Earlier removals would similarly indicate that the majority of the 5,615 charities listed in January for removal are in fact no longer in existence. 

OSCR previously announced its intention to remove large numbers of such charities in July, September and December as follows, with figures in brackets showing the number of requests for review that were received in response:

• 26th July - 2,150 (14), so 2,136 removed

• 21st September - 641 (12), so 629 removed

• 7th December - 486 (17), so 469 removed

In checking through the list originally inherited from HM Revenue and Customs, OSCR has undertaken considerable efforts to establish contact with charities over the past two years, and is required under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 to publish and maintain an accurate Scottish Charity Register.

OSCR must establish a fully accurate Register by a date specified in the legislation or it will itself be non-compliant. 

In addition to numerous letters issued to last known addresses, methods employed have included contacting:

• umbrella and membership organisations;
• voluntary sector intermediaries such as CVS groups and SCVO;
• local authorities;
• other regulators such as Companies House and the Care Commission;
• solicitors;
• accountants; and
• HM Revenue and Customs (to check whether charitable tax relief has been claimed);

as well as:

• conducting internet searches;
• checking the electoral roll;
• checking funders' lists;
• searching the Scottish Charity Register for similar names;
• checking charity title files; and
• attempting to establish contact through reminder letters to last known addresses and telephone contact through directory enquiries.

After such extensive and repeated efforts over a two-year period, OSCR concludes that all practical means of establishing contact have been exhausted and that the remaining entries can now be removed from the Scottish Charity Register.

In addition to the requirement stated in the Act for OSCR to publish an accurate Register, its regulatory principle of fairness requires that the efforts of the 22,000 active charities supplying details to OSCR should not be compromised by accommodating charities that have failed to respond to extensive efforts to make contact.

Please note that the current removals process applies only to those charities shown on the attached list and not to any charities currently on the Register that may have recently received reminder notices for Annual Return Forms.

Issued by The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), Quadrant House, 9 Riverside Drive, Dundee DD1 4NY.  Telephone: 01382 220 446 or email mark.simpson@oscr.org.uk