ThirdSector

ThirdSector: "'Charity' to get Scottish definition
The definition of charity is set to take different forms in England and Scotland.

By 2006, Scottish charities will have to comply with principles of public benefit spelled out in statute, whereas case law and the discretion of the Charity Commission are expected to decide charitable status in England and Wales.

In an unexpected u-turn last week, the Scottish Executive included a written definition of public benefit in a bill to set up an indigenous system of charity regulation in Scotland for the first time.

An English and Welsh charities bill was also widely expected to form part of the Queen's Speech at Westminster on Tuesday. But with the Home Office, the NCVO and the Charity Commission all opposed to defining public benefit in the Bill, English and Scottish charity law seem certain to take divergent paths. "