Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial government department in Scotland which forms part of the Scottish Executive with responsibility for the regulation of charities. It was established as Scottish Executive agency but following the passing of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act it was made independent of ministerial control, and answers directly to the Scottish Parliament.
The OSCR is charged with developing a regulatory framework for Scottish charities, where each charity is clear about is rights and responsibilities. This framework should also foster public have confidence in charities.
It is the equivalent of the Charity Commission in England and Wales, and the Department for Social Development of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Background
Under section 6 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990, the Lord Advocate was given the power to make enquiries either for general or specific purposes and to obtain various types of information from charities. Following the Scotland Act and the establishment of both the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive this power was exercised by the Scottish Ministers.
Initially charity regulation was carried out by a department in the Crown Office but this function was transferred to the OSCR.
By creating OSCR as a non-ministerial department it will be directly answerable to the Scottish Parliament and not to Ministers or the Scottish Executive.
External links
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Ministerial: Office of the Permanent Secretary • Development Department • Education Department • Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department • Environment and Rural Affairs Department • Finance and Central Services Department • Health Department • Justice Department • Legal and Parliamentary Services Non-ministerial: General Register Office for Scotland • Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator |