Dealing with Regulators

For lawyers working within the voluntary sector, the primary regulator is of course the Charity Commission. We regard it as essential to our work to establish and maintain good working relationships with the lawyers and other staff at the Commission.

Whilst there may be times when we need to put our clients’ views forward firmly to the Commission, in general we believe that our clients’ interests are best served by an approach which allows us to work with the Charity Commission in order to achieve the best result for our clients.

All of our lawyers maintain regular contact with the Charity Commission and contribute significantly to the annual hit rate on the Charity Commission’s website! One of our partners, Robert Meakin, is a former Charity Commission lawyer, giving us a unique insight into the workings of the Commission. In addition, the work of our lawyers within the working parties and the Executive Committee of the Charity Law Association enhances our relationship with the Commission.

The Head of our Charities team, Michael King, has been appointed by the Commission on three occasions to act as a Receiver and Manager of charities following Commission investigations. Whatever your involvement in the Commission, from investigations, review visits or simply trying to resolve a problem we are here to assist.

We do of course need to deal with many other regulators and are well used to dealing with bodies such as:

• Companies House
• The new Community Interest Company regulator
• HMRC on tax and VAT matters
• Commission for Social Care Inspection

In their final comments the judges said 'Stone King place charity work at the centre of their practice and having concluded the apparently seamless integration of two highly renowned charity teams they deserve top marks for entrepreneurship and innovation.'