The Minister for Social Development, Alex Atwood, has decided to amend the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (External link) as the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland had requested.

In June the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland referred a technical problem with the wording of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 to the Department for Social Development for consideration. This issue has caused a delay in the Charity Commission being able to begin registration of charities in Northern Ireland. The issue related to public benefit as set out in the legislation and was highlighted during the consultation on the draft public benefit guidance.

The amendment will clarify the law and allow the Commission to issue new guidance and begin registration. Details of the amendment will soon be given to the Northern Ireland Assembly and a process of passing primary legislation will then begin. It is not clear at this stage how long the process will take, but we will update the information on this website as the timeframe becomes clearer.