How are charities governed?
A. Charities are usually registered with the Charity Commission and/or the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), have a governing document and a trustee body. The Charity Commission is established by law as the regulator and registrar for charities in England and Wales. In Scotland, OSCR has similar responsibilities to the Charity Commission. The Charity Commission / OSCR fulfils this role by securing compliance with charity law, dealing with abuse and poor practice and enabling charities to work better within an effective legal, accounting and governance structure. They have powers to intervene in a charity to protect its assets where a formal investigation establishes serious mismanagement or abuse. Every Charity must have a governing document setting out the charity’s objects and usually how it is to be administered. It may be a trust deed, constitution, memorandum and articles of association, rule, conveyance, will, Royal Charter, Scheme of the Commissioners or other for
