On the 14th May 2025, the Minister for External Relations made the Charities (Reportable Matters) (Jersey) Order 2025 to come into force on the 1st June 2025. The Order provides the Charity Commissioner with greater powers to exclude charity governors on safeguarding grounds.
From the 1st June 2025, charities will need to use a revised fit and proper person declaration form when completing a charity’s annual return or submitting an application to register. Currently, the fit and proper person declaration requires governors to confirm that no reportable matter is applicable to him or her. A reportable matter includes misconduct in respect of serving as a governor of a registered charity, disqualification as a director, bankruptcy, and convictions for certain offences.
This criteria is being extended from the 1st June 2025 to include as reportable matters:
Any convictions relating to offences against children or vulnerable adults (whether spent or unspent)
Any unspent convictions
A governor must promptly report to their charity and the Charity Commissioner any reportable matter. If a governor reports a reportable matter to the Commissioner, the Commissioner must make inquiries to determine whether the governor is a fit and proper person to be a governor. A person must not act as a governor of a registered charity at any time after reporting a reportable matter unless the Charity Commissioner has given permission for them to do so or has applied conditions under which the person may continue to operate as a charity governor.
The Charity Commissioner has published guidelines setting out the approach to be taken when considering a prospective charity governor of an entity applying for registration and/or by a governor
of a registered charity about whom a ‘reportable matter’ has been reported.
Earlier in the year, the Commissioner wrote to all registered charities setting out the proposed changes and inviting comment. In total, the governors of 27 charities responded to the consultation. 24 charities (89% of respondents) were in favour of the proposed changes and 3 charities (11% of respondents) were against the proposals.
