Author Archives: Joyce Sawford

About Charitable Purposes

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Image result for Charitable Purposes CC4To be a charity your organisation must have charitable purposes only. It cannot have some purposes that are charitable and some that are not (legal requirement)

The Charities Act 2011 defines a charitable purpose, explicitly, as one that falls within 13 descriptions of purposes and is for the public benefit.

There is no automatic presumption that an organisation with a stated aim that falls within one of the descriptions of purposes is charitable. This has to be demonstrated in each case.

Purposes that cannot be charitable purposes

Your organisation’s purpose cannot be a charitable purpose if it does not fall within the descriptions of purposes and is not for the public benefit, including if it is:

  • a political purpose
  • unlawful or against public policy
  • intended to serve a non-charitable purpose

The 13 descriptions and more detailed information can be found here

Autumn Budget Statement 2018

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National Living Wage & National Minimum Wage:

Minimum-Wage-blogThe government has set a target for the NLW to reach 60% of median earnings by 2020 (subject to sustained economic growth).

Announcements in the Budget include:

Increasing the NLW by 4.9% from £7.83 to £8.21 from April 2019, which will benefit around 2.4 million workers

Accepting recent recommendations by the Low Pay Commission to increase NMW rates from April 2019 as follows:

  • Increasing the rate for 21 to 24 year olds by 4.3% from £7.38 to £7.70 per hour
  • Increasing the rate for 18 to 20 year olds by 4.2% from £5.90 to £6.15 per hour
  • increasing the rate for 16 to 17 year olds by 3.6% from £4.20 to £4.35 per hour
  • increasing the rate for apprentices by 5.4% from £3.70 to £3.90 per hour

Maternity Certificate MAT B1 Form

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MAT B1 specimenIn order to claim Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) from their employer, a woman must provide proof of her pregnancy from a doctor or midwife.  This is usually given on form MAT B1

The MAT B1 certificate:

  • verifies the pregnancy
  • confirms the date of the expected week of confinement (EWC)
  • confirms the actual date of birth when completed after confinement

Doctors or registered midwives must issue form MAT B1 free of charge to their pregnant patients for whom they provide clinical care.

More information can be found here

Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018

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charity fraud awareness week 2018Charity Fraud Awareness Week (22 – 26 October 2018)

During fraud awareness week the Charity Commission and the Fraud Advisory Panel will be helping the charity sector become more resilient to fraud.

The main aims of the week are to:

  • raise awareness of the key risks affecting the sector
  • promote and share good counter-fraud practices
  • promote honesty and openness about fraud

You can download a Supporters Pack here

The Andrew Buxton Memorial Award 2018

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Staff and Trustees receive the award

Staff and Trustees receive the award

We were very pleased to pay a visit to this year’s winners of the Andrew Buxton Memorial Award for the best kept set of accounts.

The winners are Bakewell Town and Community Trust, and they made us very welcome at their offices in Bakewell Town Hall.  The award was presented by Mrs Janet Buxton.

If you would like details of how your organisation can win next year, please contact us here

Expenses and Benefits for Employees form P11D

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By law, if you’re an employer you need to submit an end-of-year report at the end of each tax year to HMRC for each employee you’ve provided with expenses or benefits.

Examples of expenses and benefits include:Image result for expenses and benefits

  • company cars
  • health insurance
  • travel and entertainment expenses
  • childcare

There are different rules for what you have to report and pay, depending on the type of expense or benefit that you provide.

More details can be found by clicking here

Use form P11D to send the report to HMRC for each employee and director.  

You should not complete a P11D if there are no taxable expenses payments or benefits to be returned for an individual, or if the expenses and benefits have been taxed through your payroll

ACAS Guide for New Employers

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ACAS guide for new employersEmploying people – a guide for new employers

Employing people seems a perfectly straightforward matter: hire them, then set them to work, but is it so easy?

Many employers find the list of legal rights and responsibilities daunting. But complying with the law and looking after your staff will make you more efficient and more profitable.

Getting the ‘people’ part of your new business wrong could cost you time, money or lost profitability through:

  • recruiting unsuitable employees
  • inadequate training
  • low morale and motivation
  • high absence levels and turnover of employees
  • ineffective management and supervision
  • too many dismissals
  • employment tribunal claims.

You can download the guide here

Making Staff Redundant – Consultations

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Related imageIf you do not consult employees in a redundancy situation, any redundancies you make will almost certainly be unfair and you could be taken to an employment tribunal.

Collective consultation

Follow these steps:

  1. You must notify the Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) before a consultation starts. The deadline depends on the number of proposed redundancies.
  2. Consult with trade union representatives or elected employee representatives – or with staff directly if there are none.
  3. Provide information to representatives or staff about the planned redundancies, giving representatives or staff enough time to consider them.
  4. Respond to any requests for further information.
  5. Give any affected staff termination notices showing the agreed leaving date.
  6. Issue redundancy notices once the consultation is complete.

More detailed information can be found here

Restricted, Unrestricted and Designated Funds

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Picture1Unrestricted general funds can be spent at the discretion of the trustees to further any charitable purpose of the charity. This means that these funds can be spent in their own right, or can be added to a restricted fund which does not have enough money to cover its expenditure

Designated funds are still unrestricted, but have been set aside by the trustees for a particular future project or commitment.  The designation is for administrative purposes only and carries no legal authority

Restricted funds are completely different.  Restricted funds refer to funds held under ‘specific trusts’, which is that they are held for a specific charitable purpose.  The restriction carries the weight of the law and so restricted funds can only be lawfully spent on the specific charitable purpose for which they were provided.  As with designated funds, there is no requirement for restricted funds to be held in a separate bank account