09 November 2007
Scotland's charity watchdog has named almost 300 charities that have failed to provide it with annual returns and accounts.
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has published a list on its website giving details of charities that have failed to submit their most recent accounts and an annual return form within six months of the ten-month deadline. The list will be updated monthly.
The watchdog said it was seeking to encourage legal compliance and to highlight the importance of reporting.
OSCR's head of monitoring and investigation, Kirsty Gray, said that more than 97% of Scotland's 23,500 charities had submitted their details on time. However, she stressed that public confidence required that those failing to do so were highlighted.
She added: 'All charities depend upon public confidence and are therefore accountable to the public on how charitable funds are used. Every charity must supply us with their accounts and an annual return or monitoring return form within a specified time so that we, as regulator, can be satisfied that charities are demonstrating public accountability.'
The first 294 charities listed have financial year-ends for March, April and May 2006. The OSCR warned that charities that failed to submit an annual return and accounts within 12 months of the deadline risked being removed from the Scottish charity register.
The OSCR's initiative is seen as part of its determination to clamp down on irregularities following high-profile scandals. These resulted in legislation that obliges each charity to submit accounts.
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