Charitable Incorporated Organisations delayed again

Friday, 14 October 2011 00:00

A question in Parliament earlier this week has forced the minister for civil society, Nick Hurd, to admit that the legislation required to implement the new structure for charities, Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs), has not yet been finalised.

"This is taking longer than expected, as there have been some complex issues to resolve on the insolvency and dissolution regime for CIOs", he said. He went on to say that, subject to parliamentary approval, CIOs should be available in early 2012. A stark contrast to the situation in Scotland, where SCIOs have been up and running since April.

Richard King, head of Tozers' Charities team, says "In reality it is likely to be Spring/Summer next year before things get off the ground. The Charity Commission says it is up and ready, but to ease the pressure on them we expect a staged process, with new charities being incorporated first and conversions for existing charities taking place later on".

Charities that are concerned about their trustees' personal liability for what could be at least another 12 months would do well to consider converting to a company limited by guarantee as an interim measure.

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