Chamber and committees

Thank you.

Good morning, panel, and thank you for engaging with the committee on the bill so far. I have a couple of questions about the consultation that led to the review of the proposals that are before us. I will start with Martin Tyson, if that is all right.

What is your view of the consultation to date? I refer to the one that was done in 2019 and then repeated. Are there any areas of regulation that have not been covered as part of the review and the bill?

Is there anything in particular that you can share with the committee about your experience as a regulator and about charities’ experience in England and Wales of changes such as automatic disqualification? I know that members will come to questions on that issue later, but is there anything that we could learn from the process and how you supported charities to meet new obligations?

I have a final question on that point for Martin Tyson. Volunteer Scotland has said:

“we will not know the true impact of this legislation on charities, and their trustees, until it is clear how OSCR intend to communicate and implement the new measures. This is not clarified within the detail of the Bill.”

The SCVO said that the administration and comms budget could be significant, and we heard from John Maton about reprioritisation in his organisation. How is OSCR preparing for the legislation? What are your plans to communicate with the third sector on that? Will you be able to do it within existing budgets?

In developing that approach, what engagement will you have with smaller charities?

Good morning. I will ask questions that are similar to those that I put to the previous panel, so, if you were here then, you will know what is coming.

Could the witnesses say a bit about the consultation that led to the bill? What are your views on that consultation? I ask John Picton to start.

That is interesting. We heard something similar on that from one of the witnesses last week. What is Nick Holroyd’s view?

Thank you. That is helpful. Where would you point us to for an understanding of the new differences that you have referred to?

Last week, we heard particularly from—I think—Children’s Hospices Across Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations that there are a number of different requirements on charities from various regulators. I seek an understanding of your view of that.

I will put the same questions to Alan Eccles. In particular, is there any aspect of regulation that you think is missing from the bill?