Question reference: S4W-13119
- Asked by: Mark McDonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 18 February 2013
-
Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 February 2013
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether charities that have authority to operate in Scotland but are registered only in England and Wales have to meet the same registration conditions in Scotland.
Answer
By law in Scotland only bodies which are entered in the Scottish Charity Register may refer to themselves as a “Scottish charity” or “a charity registered in Scotland”.
Some bodies which operate from other parts of the UK or abroad can call themselves a “charity”, but they must also refer to the fact that they are based in another country e.g. “a charity registered in England and Wales” or “a French charity”. Additionally, they cannot occupy land or premises or carry out activities in shops etc. in Scotland.
The regulation of English and Welsh charities is set out in separate Westminster legislation, principally the Charities Act 2011.