Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005

Chapter 8 Religious charities

65 Designated religious charities

(1) OSCR may designate as a designated religious charity a charity which appears to it to have—

(a) the advancement of religion as its principal purpose,

(b) the regular holding of public worship as its principal activity,

(c) been established in Scotland for at least 10 years,

(d) a membership of at least 3,000 persons who are—

(i) resident in Scotland, and

(ii) at least 16 years of age, and

(e) an internal organisation such that—

(i) one or more authorities in Scotland exercise supervisory and disciplinary functions in respect of the component elements of the charity, and

(ii) those elements are subject to requirements as to keeping accounting records and audit of accounts which appear to OSCR to correspond to those required by section 44.

(2) OSCR may determine that subsection (1)(c) need not be satisfied in the case of a charity—

(a) created by the amalgamation of 2 or more charities each of which, immediately before the amalgamation—

(i) was a designated religious charity, or

(ii) was, in OSCR’s opinion, eligible for designation as such, or

(b) constituted by persons who have removed themselves from membership of a charity which, immediately before the removal—

(i) was a designated religious charity, or

(ii) was, in OSCR’s opinion, eligible for designation as such.

(3) The provisions set out in subsection (4) do not apply to—

(a) a designated religious charity,

(b) any component element of a designated religious charity which is itself a charity (whether or not having as its principal purpose the advancement of religion).

(4) Those provisions are—

• subsections (1) and (6) of section 16 (in so far as those subsections relate to any action set out in subsection (2)(b) to (d) of that section),

• section 28(3),

• section 31(4) and (6),

• section 34(5)(c) to (e),

• section 69.

(5) OSCR may, by notice served on a designated religious charity, withdraw the designation of the charity as such where—

(a) it appears to OSCR that one or more of paragraphs (a) to (e) of subsection (1) is no longer satisfied in relation to the charity, or

(b) in consequence of an investigation of any component element of the charity under section 28, OSCR has given a direction under section 31(5) in relation to the component element and considers that it is no longer appropriate for the charity to be a designated religious charity.