Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations - dissolution regulations amendments: consultation analysis

D. Assessing impact

The Scottish Government must duly consider the potential impacts that a new policy it is developing may have before implementing it. Section D of the consultation therefore asked six questions on whether the proposals could have an impact, either positive or negative, across the following statutory assessment areas:

• Business and Regulation
• Children’s Rights and Wellbeing
• Data Protection
• Equality
• Fairer Scotland Duty
• Island Communities

The intention of these questions was to gather evidence on any potential system‑wide impacts on the above areas across the Scottish charity sector.

In most of the questions, respondents said they did not anticipate any direct / significant impacts from introducing the proposed amendments. Where negative impacts were noted, the overall view seemed to be that these were outweighed by the positive ones.

A number of respondents also used this opportunity to comment on potential impacts relating to charities operating within these specific areas. We have summarised comments on both these aspects below.

Q23. Data Protection: Are you aware of any impacts, positive or negative, of the proposals in this consultation in terms of data protection or privacy?

There were four responses to this question, with comments remarking that:

• The wider publication of dissolution‑related information could have a positive impact in terms of increased transparency and public confidence
• OSCR should take care to handle personal data safely and proportionately to avoid unnecessary disclosure, particularly where trustees are involved with small or faith‑based charities
• OSCR and charities should generally be mindful of statutory obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018, particularly those that hold long‑retention and/or sensitive data

Q24. Business and Regulation: Do you think that the proposals contained in this consultation are likely to increase or reduce the costs and burdens placed on any business or charities?

There were 13 responses to this question, with comments remarking that:

• If new regulations result in clearer processes for dissolving a SCIO, this could lead to reduction in administrative, legal and related costs for charities
• complying with new regulations – which may require professional advice, additional administrative work, or court involvement – could potentially increase cost pressures, particularly for small or volunteer‑led charities
• while there would be costs associated with restoration, the possibility to restore a dissolved SCIO could reduce costs overall by avoiding having to re-create a charity from scratch

Q25. Equality: Are there any additional likely impacts the proposals contained in this consultation may have on particular groups of people, with reference to protected characteristics? (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation)

There were four responses to this question, with comments remarking that:

• there could potentially be an indirect impact on religious / belief‑based SCIOs, where their views relating to sex or gender receive increased public scrutiny
• trustees who are either elderly, disabled or have additional support needs may require support or reasonable adjustments to understand how to comply with any new procedural requirements
• there could be potential indirect impacts on charities where a group with a protected characteristic is over‑represented among trustees or beneficiaries

Q26. Children's Rights and Wellbeing: Do you think that the proposals contained in this consultation are likely to have an impact on children’s rights and wellbeing?

There were two responses to this question, with comments remarking that:

• most impacts would be indirect and dependent on implementation
• any direct impact would likely to be case‑specific rather than systemic

Q27. Island Communities: Do you think that the proposals contained in this consultation are likely to influence an island community significantly differently from its effect on other communities in Scotland?

There were three responses to this question, with comments remarking that:

• island communities would not be impacted differently from other parts of Scotland
• SCIOs operating in remote or island locations often play a vital role in local service provision, and so additional administrative requirements could have a proportionally greater impact on their sustainability
• there could be a greater impact on SCIOs operating in areas where barriers to connectivity / digital access exist

Q28. Fairer Scotland Duty: Do you think that the proposals contained in this consultation are likely to have an impact in relation to the fairer Scotland duty?

There were five responses to this question, with comments remarking that:

• the proposals appeared compatible with the Duty, and that stronger regulatory processes could improve fairness, transparency and accountability
• enabling earlier intervention where a SCIO is being governed poorly could reduce impacts on employees, creditors and communities
• dissolving a SCIO that supports socio‑economically disadvantaged groups, without appropriate safeguards, could increase inequality
• the overall impact would depend on how the amendments are implemented, and whether adequate protections are in place

Q29. Environment: Do you think that the proposals contained in this consultation are likely to have an impact on the environment?

There were two responses to this question, with comments remarking that:

• more complex regulations could increase costs for SCIOs, which might have an indirect impact on those involved in environmental / heritage‑related work
• streamlined regulations could reduce costs for SCIOs, which might have an indirect benefit on those involved in environmental / heritage‑related work