It was decided at a meeting in early February between charities and the Treasury not to press ahead with changes. It follows two years of discussions over options that included removing income tax relief for donors who were higher-rate taxpayers and replacing it with an increase in the tax relief to be claimed directly by charities. The Treasury was deterred from making changes by its reluctance to impose any extra burden on the exchequer, coupled with a fear of creating winners and losers within the charity sector. The Treasury plans to continue regular meetings with the sector in a new forum, which met for the first time on 8th February 2010. Charities believe they are missing out on an important source of funding, as higher rate taxpayers fail to claim an estimated £250m of tax relief – the difference between basic and higher rate tax – or to redirect it to the charities. One option considered by the Treasury was the introduction of a “composite rate” that would allow charities to claim the same refund for higher rate and basic rate donors. A recent survey by the Treasury found that a “small but sizeable minority” of taxpayers – about 14 per cent – preferred a system where they could personally claim tax relief on their donations, possibly because they did not trust the government to give the money to charities. Charitable contributions were sometimes triggered by tax planning at the end of the financial year, and “beating the exchequer” was a big incentive for some donors. But for others, giving tax relief might reduce the “warm glow” they got from giving because it was associated with greed. Under the Gift Aid scheme, charities can reclaim an extra 25% in tax on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. Between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2011, the government will also give UK charities an extra 3% of all eligible donations. This ‘transitional relief’ does not affect anyones personal tax position.

Mervyn Pilley has joined Not For Profit Business Services as Chief Executive. A qualified accountant and Chartered Manager, Mervyn has twenty plus years of experience running membership organisations, both as a Board and Committee member and also as a paid CEO/Executive Director. His passion for all things Membership goes back fifty years! He has been involved in two 100 year old membership organisations and has also set up a Trade Association from scratch. Mervyn has dealt with all aspects of membership management and is driven to establish membership management as a profession in its own right. Mervyn said ” I am looking forward to working with the NFPBS team to grow the established business and also help our clients to enhance their organisations”

Millions of families visit the UK’s iconic visitor attractions during the school holidays, but only 14% of parents think that children’s food at popular attractions is good enough! “Visitor attractions are making life hard for parents who want to enjoy a healthy and happy day out,” said Rob Percival, Soil Association Policy Officer. Over the past few months the Association has worked with parents, to uncover unhealthy pre-packed lunchboxes, dodgy ingredients, and a lack of transparency about food sourcing practices in the UK’s most popular museums, art galleries, zoos, visitor centres, and theme parks, as well as some good food at reasonable prices. Veg or salad options weren’t included in 75% of children’s lunchboxes. Meanwhile 50% of attractions offered lunchboxes including muffins, cakes and sweet treats, but no fresh fruit. These findings come weeks after the Government announced new plans to tackle childhood obesity. Whilst children’s lunchboxes were lacking in healthy options they were often overloaded with sugar, with one at London Zoo packing up to 36g of sugar, about 189% of a child’s daily sugar allowance! Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and meals that included E-numbers linked to negative effects on children’s behaviours featured prominently in others. The British Museum, one of the most popular attractions, declined to confirm whether it uses any British produce or local ingredients. Only a minority declared that they used British ingredients throughout their menus. The Natural History Museum and Brighton Pier scored in joint last place in the league table, whilst the Eden Project scored first place. The full league table is available on, https://www.soilassociation.org/our-campaigns/out-to-lunch-2016/

In summary the treatment of VAT relating to this change is: any work completed before 1 January 2010 will be subject to VAT at 15% any work spanning 1 January 2010 can either be subject to VAT at 17.5% on completion or split between that portion up to 31 December 2009 at 15% and 17.5% thereafter any work invoiced or paid for before 31 December relating to services after 31 December 2009 will be subject to VAT at 15% The rate change is the last point which HMRC has sought to limit in scope. Apart from obvious transactions arranged between connected parties, any prepayment for services over £100,000 where this practice is not the norm will be subject to an additional 2.5% supplementary charge. However there is still some room for manoeuvre for orgainsations in the UK who cannot recover their VAT in full e.g. charities. If you are unsure about any VAT matters, seek professional advice.

The Association has an annual continuing education programme, the high points of which are the Peter Taylor Annual Memorial Address, an open lecture delivered by a senior member of the judiciary in memory of our first President, the later Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor of Gosforth, a weekend Residential Clinical Negligence seminar in the second or third week of September which alternates between colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, and the annual Saturday seminar on Solicitors’ Negligence in October. The PNBA also promotes basic education for juniors and returners to practice in its annual Back to Basics Course over three weekday evenings in November. In addition the Association holds lectures and seminars throughout the year, principally at the benchers rooms of Inner Temple and occasionally in Manchester and Leeds. The PNBA has an extensive provincial membership and our lectures are transcribed and occasionally videotaped for library use. Since 1997 the Back to Basics Course has been transmitted by video link live to chambers in Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Newcastle and Liverpool. http://www.pnba.co.uk/

Following a robust assessment, the PRP Board has decided that IMPRESS meets all its criteria, including independence from the print and online publishers it regulates, and appropriate funding, making it the UK’s first independent press regulator. Recognition was granted at a meeting in London on 25th October. IMPRESS meets all twenty-nine criteria of the Charter which – in England and Wales – sits alongside the Crime and Courts Act 2013. Since 3rd November 2015, under the Act, publishers who are not a member of an approved regulator could face the threat of exemplary damages in egregious privacy cases – a regime previously unknown in the English or Welsh systems of press litigation. Publishers who are members of an approved regulator would be protected from this. As part of the assessment process, the PRP provided three opportunities for the public and third parties to review IMPRESS’ application and provide feedback to the PRP. Several people and organisations took up the opportunity, and the PRP received further submissions in the lead up to the meeting. All the relevant information was considered by the PRP Board when making its decision. All the information received during the calls for information will be published on the PRP’s website within 30 days, alongside the IMPRESS application, the PRP’s assessment report and the Board’s final decision. Following the announcement, David Wolfe, Chair of the PRP Board, said: “The Royal Charter plays a role in ensuring the freedom of the press while protecting the interests of the public.” Commenting, Walter Merricks CBE, chair of IMPRESS said, “The PRP decision is good news for the press and good news for the public. This is the next important step in building a new era of trust between journalists and the public and a significant moment in the history of press regulation in this country. For the first time news publishers, both large and small, have the choice to join an independent press regulator which is not controlled by major publishers….We believe that independent press regulation meets a real public need. As a truly independent regulator, that is not part of the newspaper industry, we can put decent standards and accuracy at the heart of news publishing, dealing with complaints fairly and with impartiality.” Sir Harold Evans, variously editor of The Northern Echo, The Sunday Times and The Times has said, “The democratic ideal and necessity of a free, cultivated and honest press requires monitoring by a body – independent of ownership – to hold journalism to the highest standards of truth and integrity and respect for the rights of individuals. Without that independent monitoring, gross abuses, of the kind we have endured and continue to experience, will continue. I support IMPRESS and the publishers that have committed to its standards.” Recordings of the meeting is available online https://www.periscope.tv/PRPanel. The meeting was divided into several parts, so there are a number of videos. The first video is here: https://www.periscope.tv/PRPanel/1ypJdAjEwwdxW?

The UK has produced a new updated public notice 709/5 which explains how you must account for VAT if you buy-in and re-sell travel facilities directly as an association and act as a principal or undisclosed agent (that is, acting in your own name). This notice should be read in conjunction with Notice 709/6 Travel agents and tour operators. This updated version of the notice has been produced primarily to include important changes to TOMS legislation and practice which come into effect from 1 January 2010. These changes have already been published in Revenue & Customs Brief 27/09. The European Commission wrote to the UK raising concerns about aspects of the UK’s operation of the TOMS and opining that the UK arrangements in respect of these issues were not fully compatible with the VAT Directive (2006/112 EC).The UK has accepted that aspects of the scheme were not implemented properly and gave a commitment to amend the TOMS, in order to comply with European law. These aspects concern: •supplies to business customers for subsequent resale •supplies to business customers for their own consumption and supplies of educational school trips •use of market values in respect of in house supplies If you are unsure of the VAT treatment for your association, then seek professional advice.

Come at see us on stand 50 at CHASE 2015 Why not visit us at CHASE on 16-17th February 2016 being held at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London. This Charities and Associations Event is free to attend and visitors can attend a wide range of free seminars and talk to a number exhibitors that are suppliers of goods, services and advice operating in the not for profit sector. Registration is now open http://www.conferencehouse.co.uk/chase-2016

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on its Mission, which is designed to provide a guiding set of principles around the strategic choices the FCA makes. It will inform the FCA’s strategy and day-to-day work over the coming years. On 1 April 2013, the FCA became responsible for the conduct and supervision of all regulated financial firms and the prudential supervision of those not supervised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). However, with finite resources and objectives set by Parliament, its overarching strategic objective is to ensure that relevant markets function well. Supporting this are three operational objectives: securing an appropriate degree of protection for consumers; protecting and enhancing the integrity of the UK financial system; and promoting effective competition in the interests of consumers. So, clarity of objectives and focussing of efforts is key. As is the reasoning behind its work and the tools it uses to do it. Consequently, the FCA will be seeking engagement across the breadth of its stakeholders towards developing its Mission. Commenting on their efforts Andrew Bailey, FCA Chief Executive said, “Establishing and embedding a clear mission for the FCA is critical to our success, both as a regulator and to UK financial services as a whole. Our Mission will set out a framework within which we prioritise our work, ensuring we focus our resources in the right places. This will improve accountability and transparency of how and why we make the choices that we do. The Mission will only be a success if our stakeholders engage with us through this consultation process. We want this to be a very open process. Out of it, we hope that we can set out a clear path ahead for financial conduct regulation in the UK.” Key themes that the FCA will be consulting on include: • Protecting consumers – in an environment where consumers are increasingly expected to take responsibility for their own financial decisions, what is the right level of consumer protection; and how does the FCA balance the responsibilities of firms and consumers? • Vulnerable consumers – should the FCA prioritise the protection of vulnerable consumers and if so how? • Delivering consumer redress – what should the role of the FCA be in redress schemes, for example in dealing with activity outside the FCA’s remit? • When the FCA intervenes – how the FCA identifies harm and how it decides which approach to take to address it; and how can the FCA be clearer for firms, consumers and stakeholders on what it is doing and why? • The scope of regulation – explaining the remit the FCA has for taking action and the circumstances in which the FCA may intervene with regard to unregulated activities; • The interaction between regulation and public policy – explaining this interaction using examples including access to financial services and price discrimination; • Competition, supervision and enforcement – providing clarity and seeking feedback on the FCA’s current approach to using its different regulatory powers and tools; • FCA Handbook – seeking suggestions on a proposed review of the FCA Handbook which sets out the rules for firms. See: www.fca.org.uk/publication/corporate/our-future-mission.pdf

The Government have recently passed laws in the UK (applicable to England and Wales) to make charities and other not for profit organisations pay for a licence when they play recorded music in their own premises – such as for fundraising discos. Even school Christmas concerts need to be licensed. This new licensing system, which is due to come into force in April 2010, will cost the voluntary and community sector up-to £20 million. The main points to remember about the new legislation are: School performances open to friends and family are licensable – they count as public performances. The rationale is to prevent noise, crime and disorder, to ensure public safety, and the protection of children from harm. For the first time, private performances raising money for charity are licensable. The unlicensed provision of even one musician is a potential criminal offence (although some places are exempt, including places of public religious worship, royal palaces and moving vehicles) Broadcast entertainment, including sport and music, is exempt – no matter where, and no matter how powerfully amplified Maximum penalty: £20,000 fine and six months in prison. A Temporary Event Notice (in effect a temporary entertainment licence) is required but only 12 are allowed per premises per year. They will cost £21 each.