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OSCR Annual Return – summary of forthcoming changes

1 Introduction

All charities in Scotland complete an OSCR Annual Return and file this with the charity’s annual report and accounts using the OSCR Online system. The Annual Return allows OSCR to gather information each year about what is happening within a charity. The information helps OSCR in its regulatory work.

2 What is happening?

We intend to make changes to the Annual Return to help us meet the priorities in our new Corporate Strategy. This means:

• there will be more help provided to the person completing the Annual Return
• we will provide feedback to charities in response to their submission where the answers to the Annual Return questions indicate a potential issue that the charity trustees need to consider
• additional information about each charity will be published on the Scottish Charity Register. This will be:

  1. a description provided by the charity of the activities it undertakes
  2. number of charity trustees
  3. number of volunteers
  4. number of staff

To help us provide feedback to charities we need to ask all charities questions about the governance of the charity. This means there will be more questions for some charities to answer. The Return should not be difficult to complete for anyone who understands how the charity operates.

3 Why is this happening?

Asking more questions will allow us to provide charity trustees with guidance which will be useful to them to ensure they meet their legal duties, and the charity is well run. It also allows OSCR to identify where education and guidance is required and to identify situations where we may need to take regulatory action.

Some of the questions we ask may change from year to year. This will allow us to respond to improvements that charities make and the changing environment that charities operate in.

4 Can I get more information?

Yes, you can. Further information about the changes that we are going to make is published here. This includes a copy of the new Annual Return questions. Please provide your thoughts and feedback to us – your contribution will help us to refine the changes we want to make to ensure the result is positive for both charities and OSCR.