When it will introduce legislation to widen the criteria by which the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator can investigate charitable o…

In A Partnership for a BetterScotland, published in 2003, the Executive made a commitment to legislate oncharity law. To take forward that commitment, I will shortly be publishing a draftcharity bill for consultation. The draft bill will set out proposals for a Scottishdefinition of charity and the establishmentof the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator as an independent statutory bodywith a wider range of powers. It is also intended to improve regulation of charityfundraising and accountability of charities to the public.
Subject to the responses to theconsultation on the draft bill, I hope to introduce legislation to the Parliamentas soon as legislative time is available.