Commission consults on public benefit guidance on moral or ethical belief

(Immediate Release - 29 August 2008)

The Charity Commission will launch a public consultation on additional draft supplementary guidance for charities on public benefit on Thursday 4th September, and welcomes responses to it.  The draft guidance, Public Benefit and the Advancement of Moral or Ethical Belief Systems, follows the publication of general guidance on public benefit in January 2008 and other recent consultations on draft supplementary guidance.  

Under the 2006 Charities Act, for the first time all charities must show that their charitable aims are for the public benefit.  The two key principles of public benefit are that there must be an identifiable benefit, or benefits, and that benefit must be to the public, or a section of the public.

The draft supplementary guidance on Public Benefit and the Advancement of Moral or Ethical Belief Systems explains how the principles of public benefit apply specifically to charities advancing a moral or ethical belief system. Examples of these charities would include Humanist and Rationalist charities.  The draft guidance considers what the public benefits of a moral or ethical belief system might be, and when they might be affected by issues of detriment or harm.

Launching the consultations, Chair of the Charity Commission Dame Suzi Leather said,

“All charities are now required to identify and report on how their charity's aims are, and are carried out, for the public benefit. The advancement of religion and the advancement of moral or ethical belief systems are treated the same in this regard. Moral or ethical belief systems can be charitable because they advance other aims regarded in law as charitable, such as the advancement of the moral or spiritual welfare of the community, the advancement of education or the advancement of health.

Our draft supplementary guidance on Public Benefit and the Advancement of Moral or Ethical belief systems is designed to help trustees describe what their charity does for public benefit.  We hope this further consultation will be as fruitful as previous ones and we invite responses from all interested groups."

The deadline for responses to the consultation is 05 January 2009. The consultation documents are available on the Commission's website from 4th September at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publicbenefit/default.asp or can be ordered by telephone through Charity Commission Direct on 0845 300 0218 from Thursday, 04 September 2008 onwards. 

Notes to Editors:

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales.  See http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk for further information, or call 0845 300 0218.

2. The Charities Act 2006 (which received Royal Assent in November 2006) gives the Charity Commission a new objective, "to promote awareness and understanding of the operation of the public benefit requirement."  The Act gives the Commission responsibility for ensuring all registered charities meet the public benefit requirement and for providing guidance on what the requirement means.  The Act also requires charity trustees, who now have to report on their charity's public benefit, to have regard to the Commission's public benefit guidance.

3. The general public benefit guidance published on 16th January 2008, Charities and Public Benefit, is available on the Charity Commission website at http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publicbenefit/default.asp along with further public benefit information.

For more information, please contact the Press Office.

PR30/08