The government has published new legislation that relaxes corporate governance and insolvency law to help organisations under pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill 2020, organisations will be given greater flexibility over things like holding member meetings electronically.

The proposed measures will come into force at the end of June. The bill is limited and will expire on the 30 September, unless it is extended.

In summary the bill allows:

The Charity Commission has appointed former Staffordshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Nick Baker, to its newly created Chief Operating Officer Role.

The new post focuses on corporate functions, including HR, finance, governance, risk and assurance, and will be based in Liverpool, the Commission’s main office.

New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) has published recent results from its State of the Sector programme.

The results have been released earlier than originally intended, in order to assist understanding of the role of charities in the COVID-19 response, as well as the impact of it on their work.

A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee has criticised the government for failing to adequately support UK charities in the face of plunging incomes and rising demand for the sector.

In particular the COVID-19 Crisis and Charities report found that:

Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Secretary of State for International Development has written to organisations delivering aid on behalf of the department to tell them that they could be paid in advance in order to meet ongoing costs.

In the letter, sent earlier this week, Ms Trevelyan also says that payments would continue in order to support “essential aid programmes. In the note, the minister says:

Pro Bono Economics (PBE) has published a new report that explores the VCSE sector’s contribution to the UK’s economy.

Charity Tax Group (CTG) has led a group of VCSE sector organisations in calling on the government to divert surplus council coronavirus funding to small charities, reports Civil Society.

Registered charities are now exempt from the rule which stipulates that half of their income comes from trading in order to be eligible for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme.

The British Business Bank, which is the body overseeing the scheme, has changed the wording of the scheme’s conditions to say:

There will be several opportunities for VCSE organisations to have their voices heard over their future and the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

First, the House of Lords will be debating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on charities on Thursday 30 April at 11:00 and charities are being encouraged to contact peers in order to raise issues with them.

The government has refused opposition demands for additional funding for charities.

In parliament yesterday, Oliver Dowden MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was asked by shadow DCMS minister, Jo Stevenson MP to commit further funding for the sector.

He said that the government would “do everything that it can to support charities”, but would not commit to additional funding.