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I have just set out what is important. We take the point about the need to ensure diversity of experience on charity boards; that is important. However, it is also important that the law treats all charity trustees equally and that no trustee position—such as the treasurer or chair, for example—is more responsible as far as charity regulation is concerned. All trustees are equally responsible for the charity.

I would just reiterate that a person who is otherwise disqualified can apply to OSCR for a waiver from disqualification. Such a mechanism is appropriate in ensuring that disqualification rules are fair and proportionate, and it will serve the Scottish charitable sector well.

OSCR would be liable, because any personal data would be held by OSCR, which is the independent public body. It has, and will have, duties and responsibilities in relation to data processing, just as any organisation does. OSCR will be the data controller for trustee information and the bill provides a legal basis for OSCR to process that personal information. In short, it is for OSCR to determine what information is to be collected and the systems used to process that information. If there were to be a data breach, OSCR would be liable. That is why we will ensure that OSCR, like any other public body, has systems in place to avoid that.

It is. I met OSCR recently. The powers will be important to it. It wants them and believes that they are necessary and proportionate.

As I set out in my opening remarks, one of the overarching aims of the bill is to increase transparency and accountability in the charity sector. Responding directly to the views of the public in OSCR’s surveys and giving people the ability to see how a charity has spent the donations that it has received and who has made those decisions are key elements in increasing public trust. To go back to the provisions in the bill, publishing charity accounts and providing the names of trustees on the register will help to provide the increased transparency and accountability that the public are looking for.

In addition, the bill will bring information about Scottish charities up to the same standard that there is in other parts of the United Kingdom. That is important and is a key plank of the bill. It is not that there is a major issue with public confidence, but anything that can be done to strengthen the public’s confidence in the donations that they give and in accountability and transparency is important.

You would not expect the detail of implementation to be in the bill, because OSCR, as an independent public body, will want to detail how it will implement the new powers and duties. OSCR has said that it intends to produce guidance on various provisions in the bill, alongside relevant communication campaigns. It has given evidence to the committee on some of those plans, and the bill team is working closely with it on the commencement and implementation plans, to ensure a phased roll-out.

It is probably important to make the point that the bill does not make fundamental changes to the way in which charities are regulated; it is about enhancing and clarifying the existing regime. Apart from the inclusion of trustee names on the register and the provision to OSCR of the names and addresses of trustees for the internal schedule, most charities will not see a huge difference in how they are regulated.

However, communication is going to be important, and OSCR has that well in hand, by the sound of it.

There has been extensive consultation, including with a number of small organisations. The bill has been the subject of two 12-week consultations and there is a total of, I think, more than 400 written responses from bodies of all sizes, including a number of small organisations.

The question whether things have been included in the bill comes back to the need for a wider review, in which there will be scope to consider those things. I want to take the time with the sector, including small organisations, to scope out what that wider review would cover, because there are differing views on that. It is important to have a really full, open discussion with all aspects of the sector, including large and small organisations.

Allowing an exemption for smaller charities from the requirement to publish accounts or to provide information to OSCR would, I think, defeat the aim of ensuring transparency and accountability across the whole sector. More than half of charities in the sector have an income of less than £25,000 and are therefore considered to be small charities. That is a huge part of the sector, and an exemption would potentially mean that the public and the regulator would not have access to a large proportion of it.

In practice, the situation will be very similar to what it currently is. OSCR already publishes the redacted accounts of charities with an income of more than £25,000, and financial reporting to OSCR is already staggered depending on income levels, with smaller charities providing less information than larger ones. The point that I was getting at earlier was that OSCR already takes that into account with regard to the requirement for financial reporting. It is proportionate to the size of the organisation; one would expect a multimillion-pound charity to be required to provide a greater level of financial information.

The audit threshold for charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland is currently set at £500,000. In England and Wales, the threshold is higher, at £1 million. However, I think that the view is that £500,000 is right for Scotland, given that the incomes of charities in Scotland are a bit different from those in England, and that it is appropriate that that remains the threshold.

I believe so. I can bring in Caroline Monk to talk more about the detail. The consultation with the ICO happened at quite an early stage in the process and we are content that the points that were raised have been addressed.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you about the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Bill. The committee will be aware, from its evidence sessions so far, that there is significant support for the bill and for the modernisation of Scottish charity law.

The bill is built around proposals that have been put forward by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator—OSCR—that are based on its operational experience since the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 came into force. In addition to the OSCR proposals, and following engagement with OSCR and the Law Society of Scotland, the record of charity mergers at section 12 and a list of minor or technical amendments to the 2005 act were added to the bill. The bill was delayed due to the pandemic, so I am pleased that we are now able to progress it.

The bill covers a range of different provisions that are designed to enhance the existing framework. Each of the provisions falls under one of three primary aims, which I will outline briefly.

The first aim is to increase transparency and accountability in charities by improving public access to information about a charity’s operations. The bill will require OSCR to publish the accounts for all charities and to include the names of charity trustees on the Scottish charity register. OSCR will be able to maintain a schedule of charity trustees’ details for its own internal use and provide a publicly searchable record of trustees who have been removed from office by the courts.

The second aim is to provide stronger powers for OSCR, including the power to issue positive directions to help charities to address regulatory issues. The bill will give OSCR a new power to issue positive directions to charities, in addition to its existing powers to issue preventative directions. It will also allow OSCR to conduct inquiries into former charities and their trustees.

OSCR’s powers and duties in connection with the register will be enhanced by enabling it to remove a charity from the register when that charity fails to provide accounts and is unresponsive to attempts by OSCR to make contact. In addition, there is a new provision that will require OSCR to refuse to enter an applicant charity on the register when it considers that it would not be appropriate to regulate the applicant because the charity has no, or only a negligible, connection to Scotland.

OSCR will be empowered to appoint interim trustees to a charity in certain circumstances—for example, when the charity has no trustees or the existing trustees cannot be found. Further, the bill will make some adjustments to OSCR’s processes around gathering information in connection with inquiries to make those processes more streamlined and efficient.

The third aim of the bill is to bring Scottish charity law up to date with some key aspects of charity regulation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, thereby enhancing public trust in charities and further protecting charitable assets. That will be achieved through updates to the criteria that apply to the disqualification of charity trustees and the extension of disqualification to individuals who are employed in charities who exercise senior management functions. The bill will enhance protection for charitable assets through the creation of a record of charity mergers and a new provision for redirecting legacies from a charity that has merged and ceased to exist to the charity with which it has merged.

The bill will make practical improvements and updates to existing charity regulation and the role of OSCR. We consulted on those aspects pre-pandemic, and we are now taking them forward.

I believe that there is also a need for a broader review of the future of charity regulation, which is why I have committed to begin such a review following the passage of the bill. We will ensure that we engage with the charity sector on the scope of that review.

I am happy to take questions, convener.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to the motion that seeks approval for the draft order.

Legislation to establish a licensing scheme for all short-term lets was approved by the Parliament in January 2022 and the scheme opened in October 2022. Many hosts have now submitted an application for a licence and I thank those who have done so.

The licensing scheme has introduced a set of basic safety standards, which will help to protect guests, hosts, neighbours and communities across Scotland. Where there are other problems, such as noise, nuisance, littering, antisocial behaviour, the loss of residential housing stock and other adverse impacts on communities, the licensing scheme, together with the control area legislation—The Town and Country Planning (Short-term Let Control Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2021—give local authorities the powers to address those problems.

We recognise that the cost of living crisis is placing significant pressures on businesses and individuals. Therefore, we have responded by taking a pragmatic approach to help to support hosts in recognition of those challenges. We are confident that the one-off six-month extension will give businesses more time to spread the cost of the licence fee and meet the scheme’s requirements. It will also assist businesses that are facing difficulties in procuring contractors to carry out necessary work, such as gas safety checks and energy performance certificate assessments.

Although the extension will give existing hosts more time to apply, I encourage those who have yet to do so to apply well in advance of the extended deadline, in order to join the growing number of licensed premises in the sector.

We will continue to work with and listen to stakeholders as we refine guidance, taking into account feedback from the early months since the scheme launched. Some businesses have raised concern about certain aspects of the operation of the scheme. In responding, officials have worked closely with licensing authorities to raise those concerns and look for solutions that resolve them.

The extension offers a pragmatic solution to genuine concerns that have been raised by businesses during the cost of living crisis, but we recognise that we cannot unduly delay action to ensure that all short-term lets are safe and that local authorities have the powers to tackle local issues.

I therefore ask the committee to support the motion on the order.