The aim of the review is to:

* Understand how the Act is operating in practice;

* Assess how effective it is; and

* Determine whether the legal and regulatory framework for charities in England and Wales is fit for purpose, now and in the future, and whether further improvements could be made.

The Charities Act 2006 made a number of changes to the legal framework for charities, but Parliament agreed that the Act should be reviewed after it had been in force for five years, so it could assess whether it was an effective piece of legislation.  

The review’s Terms of Reference include 14 specific issues that need to be considered, which were brought to the attention of the Government by the charity sector, lawyers and other interested parties. These include the following:

1. The definition of “charity” and the changes made by the Act in relation to the public benefit requirement;

2. The licensing regime for public charitable collections – are the Act’s provisions workable and do they represent value for money?;

3. UK cross-border issues;

4. Self-regulation of fundraising (as delivered by the Fundraising Standards Board (FRSB));

5. The success of the First-tier Tribunal (Charity), particularly the range of Charity Commission decisions that are appealable to, or reviewable by, the Tribunal;

6. Measures to reduce bureaucracy on charities;

7. The objectives, functions and structure of the Charity Commission, including relevant recommendations from its strategic review;

8. Measures to facilitate social investment or “mixed purpose” investment by, and into, charities;

9. The operation of the charity merger provisions in the Act;

10. Exempt charities, including the policy approach to the regulation of exempt charities;

11. The transparency and accountability of the charity sector, including current accounting and reporting/audit procedures;

12. Thresholds for registration of charities, including the £5,000 general registration threshold and the £100,000 registration threshold for excepted charities;

13. The effectiveness of organisational forms available to charities, including the Charitable Incorporated Organisation; and

14. Methods of supporting and encouraging individuals to volunteer as trustees, recognising concerns about trustee liability.

Full details are here.

Lord Hodgson is to publish a call for evidence from charities and other stakeholders in due course. He aims to complete his review before summer 2012, and a report will then be laid before Parliament.

The Digital Economy Act requires Ofcom to introduce a system to reduce web piracy by ensuring co-operation between rights holders, such as record labels, and Internet service providers (ISPs).

Under the proposals put before Parliament, ISPs would need to warn a subscriber three times that they are breaking the law by file-sharing, after which, if the subscriber continues to be active in file-sharing, the ISPs must pass the details of the subscriber to the rights holder to allow them to enforce their rights.

The proposals split the cost of the system between copyright holders, who must pay 75% of the costs, and ISPs, who must pay the remaining 25%. The reasoning for this seems to be that it is copyright holders that benefit and therefore they should pay for the system, but ISPs are critical of the cost split as they do not benefit at all – they argue the rights holders should be responsible for the full cost of the system.

The proposals seem to be a step in the right direction for the Digital Economy Act. However, at the same time as the proposals have been laid before Parliament, the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has asked Ofcom to review whether such a clampdown on file-sharing by blocking access to file-sharing, copyright infringing websites, or part of those websites, is practicable. Many critics of the Digital Economy Act argue that blocking websites is not workable and extremely expensive.

This Government seems to be doing what the last government should have done before passing the Digital Economy Act in a rush before dissolving Parliament – seeing if the law is actually viable. However, there is confusion at the way in which it is pressing on regardless, especially as there is a judicial review in play too.

Whilst not directly asked to consider cost cutting by ministers, this is clearly one of the objectives of the Review. David Norgrove, Chair, suggested that it may be appropriate for the introduction of a compulsory mediation stage prior to financial and custodial hearings. With the family justice system currently costing in excess of £1.6bn, Mr Norgrove anticipates that this approach could see a reduction in legal aid costs of up to £100m.  The average childcare case lasts 56 weeks and often involves experts.  The hope is that mediation will see this timeframe significantly reduced and less experts being instructed.

Another alternative to mediation is Parenting Classes which has been trialed in some areas in the UK already. These have not been without problems, however, as it can prove costly for parties to fund the classes. Higher levels of participation would be required to see such classes being cost effective.

The Review was, however, intentionally asked to avoid considering the issue of pre-nuptial agreements becoming binding, which was canvassed by the Conservatives prior to the election.  Furthermore, it was not to discuss the possibility of no-fault divorces, nor look at the rights of cohabitants as presented by the Liberal Democrats in their campaign manifesto. 

The door closed on the consultation period on 30 September 2010 and an interim report is due early 2011, although no date has been set for the final report as yet.

The guidance sets out the minimum standards of behaviour for providers of debt management services. However, the last compliance review took place six years ago, in November 2003, and the debt management market has changed significantly during that time. By conducting the review, the OFT will be able to assess industry compliance with the guidance, identify reasons for non-compliance, and obtain feedback on it.

Online questionnaires are available for debt management businesses, creditors, trade bodies, consumer advice bodies and trading standards services, with the closing date for submissions being 25 January 2010. The OFT expects to report on the findings of the review in spring 2010.