Free Wheel North OSCR Inquiry – Lessons for the sector

A recent inquiry by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) into the charity, Free Wheel North, has highlighted a number of important learning points which charity trustees ought to be aware of and which are of significance to the sector as a whole.

OSCR received a substantial number of complaints about the cycling development charity across a range of issues between January and March 2022 and opened an inquiry to consider the issues raised. The focus of OSCR’s inquiry was around governance of the charity, specifically the possibility of the number of trustees falling below the minimum set within the constitutional document. This in turn led to issues around who the members of the charity were, with none being identified.

OSCR, over the course of over a year, worked with the charity to address the identified areas of concern.

Lessons for the sector

Following the conclusion of its inquiry, OSCR noted four main learning points for the wider charitable sector:

1. charity trustees must fully understand the terms of their charity’s constitution and ensure that they act in accordance with its terms;
2. charity trustees should seek support from sector advisers or specialists to deal with complex or challenging issues when they arise, so as to avoid them becoming wider issues;
3. trustees should engage fully with those who express concerns about the charity. Where this becomes unmanageable, and affects day-to-day operation of the charity, they should seek professional advice;
4. charity trustees must always act in the interests of the charity. Their activities and conduct have a significant effect on both the running and the reputation of the charity, and this should be reflected in their actions.

The general learnings for the sector flagged by OSCR are worth keeping in mind as a reminder of the important role of charity trustees and how they ought to behave when faced with challenging circumstances.

New inquiries policy

The approach taken by OSCR in relation to this inquiry was also interesting as they received a significant number of complaints from the public across a variety of areas, many of which OSCR considered were not appropriate for them to investigate.

This is captured within OSCR’s new inquiries policy, published last week, in which OSCR seeks to highlight to the public the areas where it can act and those where it cannot do so. This is in response to recent figures which highlight that last year, around 65% of the concerns received were about matters that OSCR could not deal with as they fell outside of OSCR’s regulatory ambit, as set by its governing legislation.

OSCR is keen to prioritise its own resources more effectively in order to deal with the most significant issues affecting charities. In addition, they are keen to only contact charity trustees in instances where it is really necessary to do so, recognising the burden that charity trustees often face.

As always, please do get in touch with a member of our charities team should you have any concerns around any issues relating to the governance of your charity. As the saying goes, ‘prevention is better than cure’, and it is far better to address any potential issues head on rather than wait for difficulties to arise.

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