Charities Act 2022

Policy background

4. The Law Commission’s project originated from its Eleventh Programme of Law Reform, published in July 2011. The Programme explained that the project would comprise, in part, certain issues arising from the review of the Charities Act 2006 by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts, which concluded in 2012. Government and the Law Commission first agreed terms of reference for the project in June 2013, and they were later updated to include a review of certain aspects of the law relating to social investment by charities and again to review the law relating to the use of permanent endowment. The Law Commission consulted on, and then published, its recommendations on social investments in 2014, and its recommendations for statutory reform were implemented in the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016. The Law Commission consulted on the remaining issues in its project in 2015, with a supplementary consultation in 2016, and published its final recommendations in its report Technical Issues in Charity Law in 2017.
5. Further information on the policy and background to the Law Commission’s recommendations is provided in its final report and the consultation papers which preceded it. 1
6. Government’s response to the report, published in 2021, accepted the majority of the Law Commission’s recommendations. 2 The Bill implements the recommendations that were accepted.