Partner Nick Burrows, in our Charities & Education team, looks at the Charity Commision's launch of the 'My Charity Commission Account', allowing charities to access the Commission’s services online.
In Spring 2023, the Charity Commission will be launching a new way for the Commission’s online services to be accessed.
You will be able to access the following through your My Charity Commission Account:
- updating the charity’s details;
- submitting the charity’s annual returns;
- making changes to a governing document;
- updating a charity’s name; and
- changing the charity’s financial year end.
The change should also make life easier for those who are a trustee for multiple charities, as provided that you use the same email address, you will be able to access all charities through your My Charity Commission Account dashboard.
The Charity Commission have started phase one which is due to finish in March 2023. Phase one has involved the Commission making contact with those registered with the Commission as the charity’s contact (which is usually a clerk or one of the trustees) to set up their account, in preparation for when My Charity Commission Account goes live, which is anticipated to be over the coming months.
There will be three different types of accounts:
Administrator
The Commission is encouraging charities to have a couple of administrators so that access isn’t prevented due to the charity’s contact being away on holiday or otherwise unavailable. The primary administrator account will be an all access account, that will be able to access all of the online services available through My Charity Commission Account. An administrator account will be able to enable other users to set up accounts linked to the charity and grant administrator rights.
Trustee
A trustee account will have access to all of the online services and will be able to update their own personal details, but not those of other trustees. They will also have sight of the names and dates of appointment of their fellow trustees. The administrator can grant them administrator rights, if needed.
Third-party
Helpfully, the Commission has included an option for a third-party account that can be shared with the charity’s professional advisers – like your accountant or, us, your lawyer. Third-party accounts will have access to some of the online services required in order to carry out the relevant tasks for the charity (for example, updating the charity’s governing document if we have drafted a new constitution). This should streamline matters, as rather than having to faff around with login details, we can maintain our own account so that we can easily do the tasks we have agreed to provide you with as part of our services.
Interestingly the Commission has also stated that it intends to provide specific support and information for charities through the account, which should hopefully help with the significant back-log currently faced by the Commission and should provide charities with an easier way to seek guidance. We are interested to see how My Charity Commission Account may be utilised in the future.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
