Upcoming Scottish Charity Changes: What trustees need to know by 9 March 2026
· Posted on: February 25th 2026 · read
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) will introduce the final phase of changes arising from the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 from 9 March 2026.
This will increase the information OSCR publishes about charities on the Scottish Charity Register and aims to increase transparency, accountability and ultimately public trust in Scottish charities.
For trustees, the changes bring new considerations in and around published personal information and the content of annual reports.
Publishing trustee names
From 9 March 2026 OSCR will publish the names of every charity trustee on the Scottish Charity register. OSCR already collects a range of information about trustees, the majority of which is for internal use by OSCR and only the first and last names of trustees will be published on the charity’s page of the Register. OSCR may allow exemptions in cases where trustees can evidence safety or security concerns if their personal details are published.
Publishing annual reports and accounts in full
Under the previous approach, only some accounts were published and personal information was redacted. OSCR will no longer redact any information from 9 March 2026. From this date, the new legislation requires OSCR to publish all annual accounts in an unredacted form including accompanying narrative reports and any personal or sensitive details contained within them. Charities must take extra care when preparing such reports while also ensuring they provide all the information that is legally required in their accounts, including the trustee names and details of transactions with them.
Additional information added to the register
From the same date, OSCR will also begin publishing the following information on the Register, which is already being collected as part of the online annual return process:
- A description of the charity’s purpose and how it achieves this in the charity’s own words.
- The number of staff.
- The number of trustees.
- The number of volunteers.
This will provide the public with a better understanding of how each charity operates and is structured.
What should charities do now
To prepare for the upcoming changes, trustees should:
- Review and update trustee details on OSCR Online.
- Ensure upcoming annual reports avoid including unnecessary personal information.
- Ensure trustees are aware that their names will soon appear on the public Register.
- Consider whether any trustee may be eligible for an exemption based on safely concerns.
The changes reaffirm the importance of robust governance, ensuring that trustees are fully engaged and aware of their responsibilities. The changes will make charities more transparent and help the public and donors identify who is responsible for a charity’s governance. From a trustee perspective it will require them to be more engaged in governance.
