Annual return update – take 2

We’ve spoken before about changes to the annual return (the set of questions a charity with income of over £10,000 and all CIOs) have to complete for the Charity Commission annually, usually done at the same time as you file your annual accounts. There have been a number of changes, which include additional questions and changes to existing questions.

You can read more information here: Changes to the Charity Commission's Annual Return from 2023 - Stewardship

Some important points to note:

• The new annual return is effective for all year-ends falling from 1 January 2023. So, it is likely that March 2023 year-ends will be the first ones to be caught by this (you don’t have too many January or February year-ends!).
• The questions aren’t available online yet (as at the date of publication). Since you have 10 months after your year-end to file your accounts and annual return with the Charity Commission, there is no need to worry. If you have a charity with a March 2023 year-end, you still have until the end of January 2024! You can file your accounts separately, if you wish, and come back to the annual return later - just make sure you do, so that there isn’t a red flag on your account later on.
• In terms of the amended questions, you will notice a significant change to the question that the Commission asks about which policies you have as a charity. They’re not all mandatory by any means, but this information is displayed on your charity record.

The new policies are:

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  • Serious incident reporting
  • Trustee expenses
  • Campaigns and political activity
  • Bullying and harassment
  • Social media
  • Engaging external speakers at charity events

The following policies have been removed from the list:

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  • Volunteer management
  • Paying staff
  • Grant-making

As a general rule, no policies are mandatory for any charity, but there some we recommend all charities have, for example:

• Safeguarding, especially where you work with children or adults at risk (in which case it is mandatory)
• Financial controls
• Complaints
• Conflicts of interest
• Financial reserves

If you’re wondering why have policies in church life at all, our blog The role of policies in church life discusses how it is not just important as a compliance matter, but that policies are there to provide a framework under which churches can flourish!

We have developed template policies for the new areas mentioned above and they are available (both separately and as part of a policy pack that covers most of the policies in the new annual return) in our online shop.

In addition, we have prepared a round-up of some of the more challenging questions our clients have come across in the following blog: Guidance on a couple of potentially challenging questions in the new Charity Commission annual return from 2023 (stewardship.org.uk).