The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2005

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“auditable charity” means a charity the accounts of which for the financial year in question are required to be audited in pursuance of any statutory requirement;

“authorised person” has the same meaning as in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000(1);

“charity trustee” includes, in relation to an investment fund, any person who discharges any of the functions of a charity trustee in relation to the investment fund;

“charity trustees” means, in relation to an investment fund, the person or persons appointed to manage the investment fund, except where the scheme or schemes regulating the investment fund allocate responsibility for discharging a particular function to a particular person or persons, when, in relation to that function, “the charity trustees” means that person or those persons;

“common deposit fund” means a common deposit fund established by a scheme under section 22A of the Charities Act 1960(2) or section 25 of the 1993 Act (which is deemed to be a charity by virtue of section 24(8), as applied by section 25(2), of the 1993 Act);

“common investment fund” means a common investment fund established by a scheme under section 22 of the 1960 Act or section 24 of the 1993 Act (which is deemed to be a charity by virtue of section 24(8) of the 1993 Act), other than a common investment fund the trusts of which provide for property to be transferred to the investment fund only by or on behalf of a participating charity of which the charity trustees are the trustees appointed to manage the investment fund;

“director” includes any person occupying the position of a director, by whatever name called, and in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members means a member of the body corporate;

“ex gratia payment” means any such application of the property of a charity, or any such waiver by a charity of any entitlement to receive any property, as is capable of being authorised under section 27(1) of the 1993 Act;

“financial year” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 6 below;

“fixed assets” means the assets of a charity which are intended for use or investment on a continuing basis;

“fund” means particular assets of a charity held on trusts which, as respects the purposes for which those assets are held, or as respects the powers of the charity trustees to use or apply those assets, are not identical to those on which other assets of the charity are held;

“institution or body corporate connected with the charity”, in relation to a charity, means an institution or body corporate which—

(a)

in the case of an institution, is controlled by,

(b)

in the case of a body corporate, in which a substantial interest is held by,

the charity or any one or more of the charity trustees acting in his or their capacity as such, and “substantial interest” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph 4 of Schedule 5 to the 1993 Act;

“investment fund” means a common deposit fund or a common investment fund;

“reserves” means those assets in the unrestricted fund of a charity which the charity trustees have, or can make, available to apply for all or any of its purposes, once they have provided for the liabilities of the unrestricted fund, together with any commitments of the charity and other planned expenditure intended to be met from the assets of the unrestricted fund;

“special case charity” means a charity which is either—

(a)

a registered social landlord within the meaning of the Housing Act 1996(3) and whose registration has been the subject of a notice under section 3(3)(a) of that Act; or

(b)

has during the financial year in question—

(i)

conducted an institution in relation to which a designation made, or having effect as if made, under section 129 of the Education Reform Act 1988(4) has effect;

(ii)

received financial support from funds administered by a higher education funding council within the meaning of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992(5) in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by the charity in connection with that institution; and

(iii)

incurred no expenditure for charitable purposes other than the purposes of that institution or any other such institution;

“the 1960 Act” means the Charities Act 1960;

“the 1993 Act” means the Charities Act 1993;

“the 1995 Regulations” means the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 1995(6);

“the 2000 Regulations” means the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2000(7);

“the SORP” means the Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities, issued by the Commissioners on 4th March 2005;

“trustee for a charity” means any person (other than the charity itself, or a charity trustee of the charity) who holds the title to property belonging to the charity, and so includes a custodian trustee and a nominee; and

“unrestricted fund” means a fund which is to be used or applied in any way determined by the charity trustees for the furtherance of the objects of a charity, and “restricted fund” means any other fund of a charity.

(1)

2000 c. 8.

(2)

1960 c. 58; section 22A was inserted by section 16 of the Charities Act 1992 (c. 41).

(3)

1996 c. 52. Eligibility for registration as a social landlord is determined by section 2 of that Act.

(4)

1988 c. 40. Section 129 was amended by section 72(1) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992.

(5)

1992 c. 13.

(6)

S.I. 1995/2724.

(7)

1 S.I.2000/2868.