In July last year, the Charity Commission published its public
benefit assessment reports on 12 charities. It failed 4 of the
charities, 3 of them on public benefit grounds. This sparked
further controversy in the ongoing public benefit debate.
Some of the press coverage continues to imply that the Charities
Act 2006 (the Act) made radical changes in charity law, introducing
a new legal definition of charity and 'tough' requirements
for charities to 'prove' that they 'provide' public
benefit. This seems to be based on the commission's public
benefit guidance.
The Act required the Charity Commission to issue guidance to
promote awareness and understanding of the operation of the public
benefit requirement. This is a statutorily defined term referring
to the requirement that, to be a charitable purpose, a purpose must
be 'for the public benefit'. In other words, a simple
restatement of the law.
