Press release

Your views sought on how the SORP can be further improved

Charity Commission for England and Wales and Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator launch new SORP research consultation.

From:
The Charity Commission
Published
4 May 2016

This news article was withdrawn on

No longer current. SORP micro-site.

With the experience of preparing the trustees’ annual reports and accounts for 2015 under the new Charities Statement of Recommended Practice fresh in practitioners’ minds, the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, who together are the SORP-making body, are seeking your views on how the SORP can be further improved. This is your opportunity to influence the future direction of charity reporting and accounting.

The SORP research exercise launched today focuses on the Charities SORP (FRS 102). This is because the Charities SORP (FRSSE) does not apply for reporting periods (financial years) beginning on or after 1 January 2016. The consultation closes for comment on 11 December 2016. The extended consultation period is intended to allow users of charity reports and accounts and users of the SORP every opportunity to take part and share their views.

Your views are sought on:

  • the SORP’s structure, format and accessibility
  • implementation issues that require improvements to the SORP
  • SORP Committee members’ suggestions for changes to the SORP
  • charity regulator themes for making changes to the SORP
  • your ideas for items to remove, change or add to improve the SORP

The consultation document can be viewed via the dedicated SORP micro-site. It is anticipated that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will review the FRS 102 standard next year. The revised FRS 102 is anticipated to take effect from 2019. Any changes to the FRS 102 standard will in turn require a new SORP. The SORP research will therefore inform the development of the next Exposure Draft of the SORP. The Exposure Draft of the next SORP is likely to be consulted upon in 2018.

Nigel Davies, Head of Accountancy Services at the Charity Commission and Joint Chair of the SORP Committee, said:

We hope that sector practitioners and users of the charity reports and accounts will take the opportunity to tells us about what needs improving and share with us their ideas or solutions. The FRC is committed to a more frequent cycle of reviewing the standards that make up UK-Irish Generally Accepted Accounting Practice and now is a timely moment to feed in your ideas for change.

Laura Anderson, Head of Enforcement at OSCR and Joint Chair of the SORP Committee said:

When we published the new SORPs in 2014 we sought to develop a reporting and accounting framework that serves four charity law jurisdictions, each with its own reporting traditions and needs. We look forward to gathering views across the UK and Ireland on how the SORP can serve the charity sector well for the future. Please take part in this shared endeavour to make the SORP the best it can be.

The SORP-making body anticipates that the results of the SORP research exercise will be published by mid 2017 on the dedicated micro-site.

Ends

PR21/16

Notes to Editors

  1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about its work, see the Annual Report.
  2. Search for charities via the commission’s online Register.
  3. Details of how the commission reports on its regulatory work can be found on GOV.UK.
  4. The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is the independent regulator and registrar of Scotland’s 23,500 charities and publishes the Scottish Charity Register at www.oscr.org.uk. Our vision is for charities in which the public has confidence and which provide public benefit.
  5. The charities’ statement of recommended practice (SORP) gives a framework for accounting and reporting, designed to: * help charity trustees meet their legal requirement for their accounts to give a true and fair view * encourage consistency in charity accounting standards * give recommendations for charity annual reporting
  6. The commission and OSCR together form the joint SORP-making body for charities and is authorised by the Financial Reporting Council for the purpose of developing and issuing the Charities SORP.
  7. The SORP Committee is a sector-based expert committee that advises the joint SORP-making body in its development of the SORP. The Committee includes charity finance directors, charity auditors as well as members reflecting broader charity sector and academic interests.

Press office

Email pressenquiries@charitycommission.gov.uk

Out of hours press office contact number: 07785 748787

Published 4 May 2016

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