last updated 14th Jan 2020

Charities and Charity Law – December 19 Summary

  • Charity Commission: fraudsters impersonating staff: The Charity Commission has issued a warning to charities regarding fraudsters impersonating the Commission’s staff and refers to its guidance on reporting cybercrime. The Commission warns charities to be particularly wary of requests addressed to HR, finance, or staff with authority to update bank details. The fraudsters normally employ a strong social engineering element and often state that they have changed their bank details or opened a new bank account. The fraudulent emails are usually from a spoofed or similar email address to that of the subject being impersonated.

Property and Planning – December 19 Summary

  • Combustible materials: MHCLG has published Building (Amendment) Regulations 2018: circular 03/2019, which explains the impact of a High Court judgment on the ban on combustible materials in and on the external walls of high-rise buildings. The circular also reminds building control bodies of their responsibilities.
  • Maintenance of historic buildings: In the first scheme of its kind, Ecclesiastical and English Heritage, in partnership with technology firm Shepherd, are piloting sensors to monitor Kenwood, a historic building. The sensors – which are battery-operated and do not require Wi-Fi – discreetly monitor environmental changes within the building.  The estate team will be alerted to potential breakdowns, electrical fires and water leaks to minimise the loss of critical equipment or damage to the building and its collections. The technology is powerful and the expected benefits are a 25% reduction in operational costs, as well as being able to better prevent losses or interruption and to better understand the building’s assets and performance. This will help drive down the energy and maintenance costs and prevent or minimise any damage.  

Housing – December 19 Summary

  • RSH standards of service: The RSH has updated guidance on its standards of service, alongside performance data from 2018/19. The guidance explains: how RSH communicates; the information it provides; its approach to regulation and compliance; feedback on its service; complaints and appeals against decisions; unacceptable behaviour; and how to contact the regulator.

Adult Social Care and Support for Residents – December 19 Summary

  • Universal Credit: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has agreed in principle to pay landlords the housing cost of Universal Credit at the same time as residents receive the remainder of the benefit, in a move that could save housing associations/charities thousands of hours in administrative work. This move was confirmed in a letter to landlords.
  • Dangerous washing machines recalled: Washing manufacturer Whirlpool is proactively recalling certain models of washing machines manufactured under the Hotpoint and Indesit brands between 2014 and 2018. To find out more about the recall and to check whether their machine will need to be recalled, you can click here or call 0800 316 1442.  Appliances under the Whirlpool brand are not affected. If a washing machine is being recalled, users will be able to choose between two options: A like-for-like replacement washing machine provided free-of-charge, or a free-of-charge in-home repair of the appliance.
  • Government to end Local Housing Allowance rate freeze after four years – The freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to end. From 1st April 2020 LHA will rise in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the first time since 2016. This is a rise of 1.5% and will mean an average increase of £10 a month for the roughly 900,000 claimants. Average rents rose by 4% during the four year freeze leaving LHA capable of covering the only bottom 15% of rents in 60% of England.

Charities and Charity Law – November 19 Summary

Charity Commission/DCMS updates

  • Charity Commission – submitting annual returns: Charities that have not yet submitted their annual return to the Charity Commission should note that the Commission no longer provides an automatic PDF copy of the annual return after it has been submitted online, nor is there any way for the charity to access or save the information. Therefore, in order to create a filed copy, charities need either to save/print each individual page in draft manually while filling it in, or to take a screenshot of each page as they go.

SORP

  • Updated accounting rules for larger charities: Regulators behind the Statement Of Recommended Practice (SORP) have published Information Sheet Three, which explains how charitable companies need to respond to changes to the Companies Act. There are three new requirements, of which two apply to charities with over £36m in gross annual income, gross assets over £18m or more than 250 employees, and the other applies to charities with more than 250 employees. The new requirements look at the duties of directors to promote the charity’s purpose, as well as employee engagement, and stakeholder engagement.  Accounting rules for larger charities updated to require them to provide extra detail.
  • Updated charities SORP accounting rules published: An updated version of the accounting and reporting rules for charities has been published, with the new document merging what were previously two different documents. The new SORP comes into effect for the financial year starting 1 January 2019. The changes, among other things, include:
    • correcting an error pointed out by the Financial Reporting Council and others, whereby the SORP-making body had not originally required comparatives for everything in charities’ accounts
    • re-defining a “larger” charity to be those with a gross income over £500,000 in the UK.

Governance

  • ICSA guidance for lead charity trustees: The Chartered Governance Institute has published guidance aimed at those charities registered and operating in England and Wales who employ staff or undertake activities that would warrant the additional assurance of a lead trustee to provide specific support and guidance to the board or others. It also advises that for small charities with no (or few) staff, it may be more pragmatic that specific areas of the charity’s activities are divided between the trustees on an ad-hoc basis. However, in such cases the delegation of authority and powers should still be formally agreed and regularly reviewed by the board.

Property and Planning – November 19 Summary

  • Property Maintenance of historical buildings – Historic England has published practical advice on repair and maintenance on its website. It covers issues including:
    • Protecting against flooding
    • How to save energy
    • Living in a listed building
    • Maintaining an older home

Adult Social Care – November 19 Summary

  • Benefits freeze to end: Working-age benefits such as universal credit and jobseeker’s allowance will rise by 1.7% from April 2020, the Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed.

Health and Safety – November 19 Summary

  • Charity care home death: We reported last month that a charity responsible for a Midlothian care home where a grandmother fell down the stairs to her death had pleaded guilty to health and safety violations. The HSE has now published an update on this case.

Charities and Charity Law ( incl. Safeguarding ) – October 19 Summary

Charity Commission/DCMS updates

  • Report on charity fraud: The Charity Commission has published a report on the biggest fraud risks to charities, following a study in which over 3,300 charities took part. Over two thirds of charities (69%) think fraud is major risk to the charity sector and internal (insider) fraud is recognised as one of the biggest threats. However, the findings also show that charities are not always recognising their vulnerability and are not consistently putting basic checks and balances in place. The research found that:
    • over a third (34%) think their organisation is not vulnerable to any of the most common types of charity fraud.
    • over half (53%) of charities affected by fraud in the past two years knew the perpetrator
    • 85% of charities think they are doing everything they can to prevent fraud, but almost half do not have any good-practice protections in place
    • the gap between awareness and practical action poses a threat to charities’ valuable funds, and to public trust and confidence in the sector.

The report recommends that charities:

  • introduce and enforce basic financial controls (for example have at least two signatories to bank accounts and cheques, undertaking regular bank reconciliations)
  • make sure no single individual has oversight or control of financial arrangements
  • encourage staff, volunteers and trustees to speak out when they see something they feel uncomfortable about.

Safeguarding

Click here for the Almshouse Association Safeguarding training

Data protection

  • The ICO on data protection for charities: The ICO – via the Fundraising Regulator – has published a blog outlining its top data protection tips for charities and third sector organisations. The blog discusses:
    • supporting people accessing their data
    • keeping people’s data secure
    • being transparent about people’s data
    • preparing for the unexpected
    • data protection and Brexit

 Click here for the Almshouse Association GDPR training

Property and Planning – October 19 Summary

  • Heritage preservation: MHCLG has announced a new campaign to empower local people to nominate heritage buildings which are important to them and reflect their local area and identity. The new campaign will challenge every single local authority across England to draw up lists of buildings of significant historical and cultural value to an area, ensuring important local monuments are no longer left neglected and unloved. Local people will be empowered to nominate heritage assets which are important to them and reflect their local area and identity, supported by a team of heritage experts, funded by £700,000 to help 10 English counties identify areas which need protecting. To support this, Historic England will launch a national campaign on local identity getting the country talking about what defines the country’s heritage. In addition, a local heritage champion will be appointed to spearhead the campaign and encourage councils to increase local listings. A speech by the Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick, announcing the campaign can be read here.
  • The Duty to Build Beautiful: Policy Exchange has published a collection of essays on embedding the need to build “beautiful homes” within UK policy making. Greg Beales, Campaign Director at Shelter, argues that social housing should be at the forefront of the Government’s push for beauty and better design.
  • National Design Guide: MHCLG has published the National Design Guide to illustrate how well-designed places that are “beautiful, enduring and successful” can be achieved in practice. The National Design Guide sets out the characteristics of well-designed places and demonstrates what “good design” means in practice. It forms part of the Government’s collection of planning practice guidance and should be read alongside the separately updated planning practice guidance on design process and tools.

Housing – October 19 Summary

Regulator of Social Housing (applicable to charities that are Registered Providers only)

  • Statistical Data Return details social housing rent levels: The RSH has published the second release of the Statistical Data Return 2018-2019. Two of the findings are bulleted below. For the full report click in the link above:
    • a reduction in the average rent for general needs social housing in England, with a significant difference in rent levels across regions
    • private registered providers of social housing with 1,000 or more units/bed spaces have reported an average net rent of £95.12 per week for the general needs rental stock (excluding Affordable Rent and intermediate rent) properties that they own. This is a reduction of 1.3% since 2018; however, increases in service charges have meant gross rents have seen a lesser reduction

Parliamentary updates

  • Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee – long-term delivery of affordable and social housing: : The committee questioned witnesses from housing associations, looking at factors which impeded the building of social and affordable rented housing, as well as various proposals for systemic reform. Issues reviewed included:
    • Factors impeding house building, Conversions to affordable rent, Rent certainty, Social rent grant funding, Government schemes, Shared Ownership Right to Buy, Homes England, Local authority house building, Land costs, Housing Association mergers, Availability of land, Affordability pressures and criteria for delivery of housing, Right to buy.

The Almshouse Association has previously submitted evidence, please see links below:

Social Housing Inquiry 17-19 Publications

Almshouse Association submission

Health and Safety – October 19 Summary

A cautionary tale for the wider sector.

• Health and Safety Executive (HSE) fines charity: The HSE has fined the Sheffield Countryside Conservation Trust for safety breaches after a 46-year-old woman was knocked unconscious by a falling tree and her four-year-old grandson received minor head injuries. The Trust pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and were fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £1,000 in costs. HSE inspector Eddy Tarn said that the “use of signs and banksmen to warn members of the public should have been in place… This incident could have easily been prevented if a site-specific risk assessment and method statement had been used”.

Useful Links below:

Standards of Almshouse Management, Chapter 4 Health and Safety

Almshouse Association Health and Safety Model Policy

Almshouse Association Risk Management Policy

Miscellaneous – October 19 Summary

As you are no doubt aware, a General Election has been called for the 12th December 2019. This is an excellent opportunity for you to highlight the wonderful work your almshouse carries out, to prospective candidates, especially if sitting MPs are standing down.

If you need any further advise, please contact us and we will be happy to assist where we can.

Charities and Charity Law ( incl. Safeguarding and Fundraising) – September 19 Summary

  • Regulators announce changes to SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice): The Charity Commission announced that the three regulators – the Commission, OSCR and CCNI – plan to change the way the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) is developed so that it better meets the needs of users of charity reports and accounts. A new process for developing the SORP is intended to be in place from 2020. The Commission announced changes such as:
    • Reforms to the SORP committee to encourage constructive challenge, better stability, and better representation of small charities and funders
    • The introduction of a new engagement process whereby seven stakeholder groups will be set up to work in partnership with the SORP committee.

Safeguarding

  • Fee changes for DBS checks: From 1 October 2019 the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) announced they will be reducing the fees for DBS checks, following a review of fees:

The fee for the Update Service will remain the same, at £13 per year. The fee for an Adult First check will also remain the same, at £6, and Standard and enhanced volunteer applications will remain free-of-charge.

Fundraising

Property and Planning – September 19 Summary

  • Commons Briefing on recent changes to S106: The House of Commons Library published a briefing on the recent changes to planning obligations, the appeals process surrounding them and how planning obligations interact with the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).  The briefing reviews when planning obligations can be used, the pooling of planning obligations and disclosure of viability assessments. 

Housing – September 19 Summary

  • Housing need: The National Housing Federation has published a report “How many people need a social rented home?”. The report found that 8.4m people in England are in some form of housing need and 3.6m (43%) of these would have their needs best met by social rented homes. The Federation called for £12.8bn a year over the next 10 years to build 340,000 new homes – including 145,000 new social homes – and believe housing associations are key partners to deliver these much-needed homes.
  • Homes for later living: A report by the Home Builders Federation argues that building more homes for later living which provide safety and security for older people could save the NHS £2.1bn over 10 years.

Adult Social Care and Support – September 19 Summary

  • TV Licences: Age UK has called on the Government to ensure protection of free TV licences for over75s following a public petition. Age UK has also published detailed information on TV licence concessions.

Environment and Energy – September 19 Summary

  • Energy Redress Scheme open for applications: Ofgem’s Energy Redress Scheme, managed and delivered by Energy Saving Trust, has reopened.  The fifth round of the scheme offers charities across Great Britain the opportunity to apply for funding to support energy-related projects, particularly those that support vulnerable consumers.  Applications for the next round close on 18 October 2019. 

Health and Safety – September 19 Summary

  • Slips and trips at historic premises: In a joint project, Ecclesiastical and researchers at the Health and Safety Laboratory have produced a series of guides to help manage slips and trips at historic premises.  The guides offer solutions to problems that may arise relating to building design, inspection and maintenance, the environment and contamination, cleaning, and how people interact with the historic premises. It also provides a snapshot of the law on slips and trips.

Taxation – September 19 Summary

  • Reliefs from VAT for disabled and older people: HMRC published guidance on which goods and services for disabled people and people aged 60 or over that should have zero or reduced rate VAT. A new sub-section, 6.3.3, clarifies when builders can zero-rate their work to restore ‘lost space’ after a bathroom, washroom or lavatory has been installed, extended or adapted in a disabled person’s private residence.

Miscellaneous – September 19 Summary

Political updates

  • Ministerial appointments: Theresa Coffey was appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Edward Argar was appointed as Minister of State for Health and Helen Whately was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism at DCMS.

Appointments/mergers

  • Homes England:  Sir Edward Lister resigned as Chairman of Homes England. Simon Dudley, who was appointed Senior Independent Director by the Homes England Board on 4 July, will deputise until a new Chair is recruited. Additionally, four new members were appointed to the Board of Homes England: Mark Rennison, Olivia Scanlon, Sadie Morgan and Vanessa Murden. Short bios on the appointees can be found here.

Charities and Charity law – July 19  Summary

The Charity Commission has published the latest Charity Commission News. The contents cover:

Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19:  

The Commission has published its annual report and accounts 2018 to 2019. This includes a section which commends the Almshouse Association as an umbrella body it has worked with.

Safeguarding 

Commission invites feedback on guidance: The Charity Commission is asking for feedback on in 2018 guidance about Safeguarding. The Commission has published a short survey (approx. 5-10 minutes) which you can complete by going to https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/safeguarding_guidance_feedback/

Property and Planning – July 19 Summary

Planning Updates

  • Housing for older and disabled people: the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published its guidance to councils on how to prepare planning policies for older and disabled people. The guidance sets out why these groups require additional consideration in the planning process along with the range of needs that need to be addressed. The guidance contains a section explaining the different types of specialist housing designed to meet the diverse needs of older people (such as residential care homes and sheltered housing) and does not explicitly list almshouses however it does stress that the list is not definitive.
  • Building Better, Building Beautiful: The Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission has published its interim report (with a final report to follow by the end of the year) which examines the fundamental reasons for ugly developments and public mistrust. It also calls for communities to be given an earlier say in the development process, encouraging greater use of master-planning rather than communities engaging in town “planning by appeal”. Key recommendations include:
    • Councils to have confidence in “saying no to ugliness” – with authorities celebrating examples of bad schemes they have turned down and used as examples to encourage beautiful design.
    • Any financial support from Homes England and local councils for a development should ‘aim for beauty’ with more work required to understand how this might be achieved and measured.
    • Improved and earlier public and stakeholder engagement in the design standards councils set developers in local plans so they can demand better quality.
    • Urging different layers of local government to come together and set out a vision for development which reflects the local geography, culture and economic priorities.

Health and safety – July 19 Summary

Clarifying Approved Document B

The Government announced its intention to clarify fire safety guidance under the Building Regulations in May 2018, following the publication of the Hackitt Review. A consultation paper was published shortly afterwards and the Government has now announced its response to this consultation. The clarifications introduced as part of this process have not added or amended any technical requirements; however, the format has been adjusted to make it more navigable and Plain English text has been added to some sections. 

Taxation  – July 19 Summary

Charity Tax Commission report

The Charity Tax Commission, established by NCVO under the chairmanship of Sir Nick Montague, a former Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue, has published its final report: Reforming charity taxation: towards a stronger civil society.  The report calls for an overhaul of the reliefs offered to UK charities and makes a series of recommendations, many of which focus on encouraging donors to use Gift Aid, including a single Universal Gift Aid Declaration that to cover all charitable donations by the donor in question. Unsurprisingly, the report also calls for a comprehensive review of VAT for charities, arguing that it could help address the anomalies in the current system.

Appointments – July 19 Summary

  1. Conservative Party: Boris Johnson has been elected as leader and subsequently became Prime Minister, replacing Theresa May. He has announced a number of changes to his cabinet, with a new Chancellor (Sajid Javid), Home Secretary (Priti Patel), Culture Secretary (Nicky Morgan), Secretary of State for Housing and Communities (Robert Jenrick) as well as other changes at MHCLG. Andrea Leadsom is the new lead at BEIS and Theresa Villiers takes over at Defra. Rebecca Pow appears to have retained her heritage portfolio as parliamentary Under Secretary for DCMS. There has been no confirmation yet about the Minister for Civil Society or Treasury Minister responsible for charities and the voluntary sector
  2. Liberal Democrat Party: Jo Swinson has been elected as leader, the first woman to hold the role in the party

Open Consultations – July 19 Summary

Consultation on revised 2020 rent standard (RSH)  – the Almshouse Association has submitted a response to this consultation.

Charities and Charity law – June 19 Summary

  • Update on reporting serious incidents: The Charity Commission has made changes to the procedure for submitting serious incident reports on behalf of the trustee body. Charities can now use the Commission’s online form. The Commission has also issued a privacy notice explaining how it processes personal data when you report a serious incident using its online form or template for bulk reporting. The notice is supplemented by the Commission’s main privacy notice, which provides further information on how the Commission processes personal data and sets out your rights in respect of that personal data.
  • Report on Oxfam GB: The Charity Commission has published its report into Oxfam GB following allegations of misconduct in Haiti in 2011. The specific findings of the inquiry can be found here and the Commission set out its decision to use its powers to issue Oxfam GB with an Official Warning and Directions under Section 84 of the Charities Act 2011. Of significance for Almshouse Association members is the section on wider lessons for the sector. In this the Commission gives a clear warning that “no charity is bigger than the people it serves or the mission it pursues”. The Commission encourages trustees to actively understand the risks to their charity and to make sure that these risks are properly managed. It also stresses that trustees must be willing and able to hold the executive to account regardless of the size or complexity of the charity. The section concludes “Charities must never lose sight of why they exist and must demonstrate how their charitable purpose drives everything they do, and most especially how they respond when things go wrong”.
  • Comments by the Chair: The Chair of the Charity Commission, Baroness Stowell, has given a speech at Charity 2020 in which she emphasised the need for charities to adapt to the pressures of today in order to fulfil their potential in the future. Charity status: Separately, in a BBC radio interview, Baroness Stowell warned charities that they should not be complacent noting: “I say to any institution on the charity register… don’t argue the reason why you should continue to have this status is because you’ve always had it”. Among the topics discussed was the tax status of charities including public schools.

Property and Planning – June 19 Summary

Selective licensing: MHCLG has published the outcome of the independent review of the use and effectiveness of selective licensing. The report finds that selective licensing is an effective tool when implemented properly, and identifies a range of areas where the operation or implementation of selective licensing schemes could be improved. There is a dedicated section to almshouses and other charities and concludes: “This review supports such the introduction of exemptions for purpose-built student accommodation that follows a Government approved code and non-profit charitable residential institutions ( Almshouses) that are not registered social housing providers”.

Please refer to the Almshouse Association’s latest news article on Selective Licensing

Environment and Energy – June 19 Summary

  • BEIS (Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy) workshops of energy efficiency: The Government has committed to look at a long-term trajectory to improve the energy performance standards of privately rented homes, with the aim for as many of them as possible to be upgraded to EPC Band C by 2030, where practical, cost-effective and affordable. With a view to a consultation in the autumn of 2019, BEIS is exploring policy design options and will be running regional stakeholder workshops in England and Wales this summer to discuss options – details here.

Click here for the current Almshouse Association advice on Energy Performance Certificates

Taxation – June 19 summary

  • Council tax: The former leader of West Lindsey District Council is calling for the authority to cut taxes for residents of almshouses. Councillor Jeff Summers believes the facilities could be helped further by being exempt from council tax, or seeing it cut sharply. Separately, MHCLG has published guidance on paying the right council tax which includes advice on the various exemptions and when they apply. The guide explains how each bill is set and how individuals can confirm whether or not they are paying too much in council tax.

Miscellaneous – June 19 Summary

  • GDPR – one year on: The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has produced a report reflecting on the impact of GDPR in its first year. The paper sets out the work undertaken by the ICO as part of its Information Rights Strategic Plan as well as covering its visions for the future.

The Almshouse Association offers members online training on GDPR Essentials that can be accessed here.

  • Recruiting older volunteers: The Centre For Ageing Better has published a free guide to help charities recruit a more diverse pool of older volunteers, warning that if the sector does not adapt the number of volunteers could fall.  Age-friendly and inclusive volunteering has been published this week as part of Volunteers’ Week. It offers help to organisations so they can avoid missing out on the talents of people in later life and gives examples and recommendations to recruit and retain older volunteers.

Charities and Charity Law – May 19 Summary

Charity Commission updates

  • Cyber-crime: the Commission has published an alert which provides information and advice to charity trustees about cyber-crime and how to report it. This follows the Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019 which revealed that over two thirds of high income charities had recorded a cyber breach or attack in 2018. The vast majority of those affected (80%) had been the result of phishing attacks (i.e. fraudulent emails). The alert contains advice on how you can protect your charity and how to report cyber-crime and fraud.

Fundraising

  • Future of Fundraising: A new report from the Institute of Fundraising and PwC ‘Fundraising for Impact’, looks at the current priorities and decisions that charities are taking around their fundraising activities. The research, based on a survey of over 100 fundraising charities of different sizes, explores fundraising income and costs, how charities are investing in fundraising, key fundraising challenges and their views about fundraising in the future.
  • Guidance on refusing donations: The Charity Commission’s Director of Policy Planning and Communications, Sarah Atkinson, has confirmed that the Commission is planning to issue a ‘guidance tool’ for trustees, to help them when deciding whether to return or refuse a donation. The announcement came as part of an article for Governance & Leadership magazine (subscription needed).  The article states that anyone with comments on this matter should get in touch via guidanceandpractice@charitycommission.gov.uk to tell the Commission what type of support they would benefit from.

Housing  – May 19 Summary

Homes England updates

  • Bidding for Community Housing Fund: Homes England has updated its guidance on bidding for the Community Housing Fund. The supplementary information provided for bidders contains a series of FAQs which now provide the most up-to-date information.

Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) updates

  • Consultation on 2020 rent standard: RSH has launched a 12-week consultation on a revised Rent Standard that will come into effect from 1 April 2020. The consultation comes as a result of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Direction to RSH, which was published in February 2019, following the Government’s consultation in autumn 2018. The consultation closes on 30 July 2019.

The Almshouse Association will be responding to the consultation. If members have any comments or information they would like to contribute, please email ChrisTargowski@almshouses.org

Political debates and questions on housing issues in ParliamentP

  • Specialist housing for older people: Members of the House of Lords have discussed the provision of suitable social housing for older people following a question tabled by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley. Lord Kennedy of Southwark, who asked the question, drew the house’s attention to his relevant interest as a trustee of United St Saviour’s charity (an Almshouse Association member).

Taxation – May 19 Summary

HMRC updates

  • VAT Guidance updated:How VAT affects charities (VAT Notice 701/1) was updated by HMRC on 1 May in relation to its guidance on mixed sponsorship and donations.
  • Making Tax Digital for VAT:HMRC has updated VAT Notice 700/22: Making Tax Digital for VAT. One of the most important changes for charities concerns charity fundraising events. Here HMRC has taken steps to relax the digital links reporting requirement. A charity fundraising event can include a number of supplies that would need to be recorded on a VAT return. Charities may find it difficult to meet the strict digital record keeping requirements for events run by volunteers. Therefore, HMRC will accept that charities can record digitally all supplies made relating to the event as if it were a single invoice, and all supplies received can be treated similarly. This relaxation only varies the requirements on maintaining records using functional compatible software. It does not change any other record keeping requirements set out in VAT legislation.

Employment- May 19 Summary

HR/Staff issues

  • Stress at work: A survey of Unite members has revealed widespread stress related illness and mental health issues among people employed by charities and NGOs. The confidential survey by Unite found that 80% of respondents said that they had experienced workplace stress in the last 12 months, while 42% said they believed their job was not good for their mental health.

Charities and Charity Law – April 19 Summary

Charity Commission

  • E-mail addresses for the Charity Commission no longer contain ‘.gsi’ as of 1 April. E-mails sent to addresses containing this will not be received.
  • The 2019 charity annual return service is now available. The Commission has also updated the document that lists all questions in the 2018 and 2019 annual return service.

Dated 18-04-19

Housing  – April 19 Summary

1. Housing Ombudsman report on complaints handling for landlords

The Housing Ombudsman has published the first in a series of reports aimed at helping landlords improve their services and complaints handling. The report, entitled Room for improvement: Spotlight on repairs, focuses on complaints about repairs and includes a section on good practice for landlords. The ombudsman notes that responsive repairs were the largest category of complaint it received in 2017-18 making up 37% of the total. The series is likely to provide a useful source of information going forward as it is based on the experience of the ombudsman and the complaints it receives.

Dated: 28-03-19

NOTE: Whilst trustees of almshouses are not officially classified as landlords, the report detailed above can be helpful with regards to Best Practice processes and procedures in the maintenance of almshouses and how to deal with complaints.

2. Regulator Of Social Housing (RSH)

(applicable only to almshouses that are Registered Providers)

Regulating updates: RSH has produced a new document entitled ‘Regulating the Standards’ which sets out the approach it takes to regulation, what providers can expect from it, and how it ensures that standards are being met. The three main changes are:

  • From April 2019, RSH will carry out In Depth Assessments (IDAs) for the largest and/or most complex providers on a biennial basis instead of the current period of once every three to four years. It will also programme a structured update meeting with these providers in the intervening non-IDA year.
  • RSH has reinforced its expectation that boards take ownership of their organisation’s stress testing and ensure they understand the impact of economic cycles as well as one-off shocks on their businesses.
  • RSH has listed the different scenarios where it may issue an interim Regulatory Judgement where a provider undergoes what it considers to be a significant constitutional change or group restructure, including a change in ownership or other change of control.

Dated: 28-3-19

3. Community-led London Housing Panel

The Mayor of London and Trust for London have announced plans to form a new housing panel to shape the capital’s housing policy. The new London Housing Panel will give up to 15 voluntary and community sector organisations a formal way to engage regularly with the Mayor, GLA, and other decision-makers on housing issues affecting Londoners. The Panel will be made up of groups representing a wide range of perspectives including social housing tenants, homeless households, leaseholders, students, and private renters. The Panel will set its own agenda, which could include estate regeneration, the private rented sector, or students’ experience of housing in the capital.

Dated: 11-04-19

Adult Social Care – April 19 Summary

Universal Credit and rented housing

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published updated guidance for landlords on Universal Credit and rented housing and guidance about 2019 changes for social landlords.The document provides private and social sector landlords with information about Universal Credit to help them understand what they can do to help their tenants prepare for:

  • their move to the single Universal Credit benefit payment
  • making payments of their housing costs (rent) direct to their landlord themselves

DWP has also invested £39 million into a new ‘Help to Claim’ service provided by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland for Universal Credit claimants.

Dated: 04-04-19

Note also: Current Issues – Claiming Universal Credit – lessons learned

Employment (applicable only to almshouses that employ staff) –  – April 19 Summary

1.Increases to national living wage and national minimum wage

  • 1 April 2019 saw increases to the national living wage (which applies to workers aged 25 and over) as well as the national minimum wages.  Click here for details on the changes  
  • In addition to this, as of 6 April 2019 employers must now (a) provide payslips to all workers, and (b) show hours on payslips where the pay varies by the amount of time worked. The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy has published guidance on this here.

2. Increases to statutory payments and limits including sick pay and maternity leave

As of 6 April 2019, the following payments and limits have increased:

3. Automatic enrolment: minimum contribution increases and pay

The minimum contributions required of both employers and employees into automatic enrolment workplace pension schemes increased on 6 April 2019. The Pensions Regulator has produced an overview which explains who this applies to, what the increases are, and what to do if you are using a pensions scheme which requires different minimum contributions. There is also additional guidance on what employers need to do to set up these increases.

4. Employment Rights (miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019

These regulations contain three key changes:

  • They extend the right to a written statement of particulars of employment, and therefore the associated enforcement provisions, to all workers (it currently only applies to employees).
  • They lower the percentage required for a valid employee request for the employer to negotiate an agreement on informing and consulting its employees from 10% of the total numbers of employees to 2%.
  • They see an increase to the maximum level of penalty available for aggravated breach of a worker’s employment rights from £5,000 to £20,000.

The increase in fines came into force 6 April 2019 whilst the remaining parts of the regulations will come into force 6 April 2020.