The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales
The Charity Commission of England and Wales holds its Board meetings and its AGM in public as part of its commitment to openness and transparency.
Dates and venues of meetings will be posted on the Commission’s website in advance of the next Board meeting or AGM. If due to unforeseen circumstances the meeting time/venue has to be moved this will be posted on the website as soon as possible and registered delegates will be contacted.
Members of the public and press can attend meetings by applying for tickets preferably at least one week in advance of each meeting. Applications will be accepted only for the forthcoming meeting. Applications should be made through this website or via the Secretariat address given below. It would be preferable if attendees could apply electronically and give a contact email address.
When applying applicants should state:
In order to ensure as many individuals and organisations can attend as may wish to, no more than four tickets will be issued to any one organisation. Subject to these restrictions tickets will be issued to applicants to attend the meeting on a "first come, first served" basis. Where demand for tickets exceeds the places available, applicants will be put on a waiting list. Should the Commission then receive notice that a person who was previously invited is not able to attend, the next person on the waiting list will be offered a ticket to the meeting.
Members of the public and press are welcome to observe formal open meetings of the Charity Commission. These meetings of the Commission are formal business meetings with specific agendas. The Board meeting is held in public but it is not a public meeting so members of the public are not permitted to speak or take part in the debate.
After the Board meeting has closed there will be a Question and Answer (Q & A) session where members of the public will be invited to address questions to the Board about the business covered in the Board meeting. The Chair of the Q & A will ask the questioner to identify themselves and any associated organisation before putting a question to the Board. In the interests of allowing as many members of the public as possible to ask questions in the time available, the Chair will ask that questions, responses and any further contributions are kept as brief as possible. On occasions, the Chair may suggest that written answers are given to questions. Questions may be taken in advance about Board business and submitted via the contact addresses below.
Agendas and copies of Board papers for Board meetings will be posted on the Commission’s website. Meeting attendees may wish to download these prior to the meeting.
Minutes of Board meetings will be available on the Commission’s website as soon as possible after they have been signed off and cleared at the next meeting.
The Commission is committed to openness and accountability. It believes that one way in which this can be met is by making most of its key decisions in public. It does this in order to give the public confidence that the Commission is making robust decisions, based on the best available evidence and advice, and to ensure that the discussions of the Board are understood.
The Board will meet in closed session in order to make decisions about staffing, finance and contractual matters, and will reserve the right to make decisions about individual charities in closed sessions. Board members will also participate in additional meetings, but the core processes of the Board will normally be conducted in open session. For more information please see Business of the Charity Commission Board.
Any further enquiries with regard to Board meetings should be addressed to the Secretariat:
Email: Open Board Meetings
Secretary to the Board
Open Board Meetings
The Charity Commission
30 Millbank
London
SW1P 4DU
Tel: 020 7674 2385
Fax: 020 7674 2309
Further media information:
The Press Office
The Charity Commission
Charity Commission
30 Millbank
London
SW1P 4DU
Tel: 020 7674 2462