A Bill to amend the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008

Overview

Help Shape the Future of Charity Regulation in Northern Ireland

The Department for Communities is inviting you to take part in an important public consultation on the Charities (Amendment) Bill to amend the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (the 2008 Act) to implement recommendations from the Independent Review of Charity Regulation and additional changes to support the practical application of the 2008 Act and protect charities. This proposed legislation aims to strengthen charity regulation, improve transparency and reduce burdens for the smallest charities, ensuring the framework remains fair, proportionate, and fit for purpose with the ability to more easily modernise future accounting and reporting requirements in a changing environment.

Your voice matters. Whether you are part of a charity, a volunteer, a donor, or a member of the public, your insights and experiences are vital in shaping laws that impact the entire charitable sector. By sharing your views, you will help us create legislation that supports charities, protects beneficiaries, and builds public trust.

The consultation is open to everyone with an interest in charities or charity regulation, whether that be in a professional or personal context.

Why take part?

• Ensure the draft Bill meets the needs of charities and communities.
• Influence how charity regulation evolves in Northern Ireland.

Please read the information provided and then complete the questionnaire. Together, we can shape the future of charity regulation in Northern Ireland.

You are not required to complete every section of the questionnaire. However, any field marked as (Required) must be filled in before you can submit your responses. Where you choose to provide an answer, it would be helpful if you could include an explanation in the comment box provided.

The questionnaire should not take more than 20 minutes to complete.

Privacy, Confidentiality and Access to Questionnaire Responses

In the interest of openness and transparency, we will publish the names of respondents whether they be individuals or organisations provided you have given consent. Email addresses will not be published. Respondents should be aware that the sharing of personal information other than name or e-mail address, as well as that of third parties, is not appropriate.  For more information about what we do with personal data, please see our questionnaire privacy notice.

In order to facilitate the survey, Citizen Space, which is not operated by DfC, is used as a data processor. Details of Citizen Space's privacy policy can be found online at Citizen Space Privacy Policy. 

It should be noted that although your response will not be published, it may be disclosed on request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). However, all disclosures will be in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation.