New Scheme of Delegation: an explainer

On 21 February 2025, the Department for Communities published the new Scheme of Delegation for the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, following approval from the Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons MLA.

The Scheme will now be formally adopted by the Board of Commissioners who will review it in full at their next meeting. The Commission has long been supportive of such a scheme, which is expected to improve efficiency in the regulator’s decision-making processes.

What is changing

The Court of Appeal judgment of February 2020 in the case of McKee & Others v Charity Commission for Northern Ireland ruled that all Commission decisions had to be made by Commissioners rather than staff following manuals approved by Commissioners. This ruling significantly changed how the Commission operated.

The seven Commissioners, who are not full time, became responsible for making all casework, enquiries, compliance and registration decisions and orders through a committee. Staff assisted by gathering information and advising Commissioners, but could not make decisions themselves. This led to delays and a reduced volume of decisions being made.

The Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 addressed this by allowing certain decisions to be delegated to staff - once a Scheme of Delegation was drafted, consulted on and approved by the Minister. The publication of the Scheme on 21 February marks the completion of that process.

What will the Scheme mean for charities?

The Scheme is expected to have a positive impact on the thousands of charities regulated by the Commission.

While internal Commission processes must now be updated in line with the Scheme, the administrative burden around decision-making within the Commission should be reduced. This, in turn, is expected to speed up decision-making, allowing charities to receive quicker responses to, for example, casework or registration applications.

The Scheme will also empower staff to interact with charity trustees in a different, more efficient and enabling way.

However, the Schedule 1 committee will not be entirely removed.

• Certain decisions relating to investigations into charities will still go through the committee.
• The power to open a statutory inquiry, the Commission’s most serious type of investigation, remains a decision for Commissioners only.
• Similarly, decisions on whether or not to publish a statutory inquiry report will be taken by the committee.

When can charities expect to see changes?

With Ministerial approval now secured, once the Board of Commissioners has formally adopted the Scheme, staff will begin its implementation. This includes decision-making manuals being reviewed and updated in line with the Scheme. Charities will then start seeing improvements in processing times and staff interactions.