► Socs Handbook (Charities Law)

The Students Association is a registered Charity and as such has to abide by Charitable Law set down by OSCR. This means various things including not being able to advertise any business that may compete with the services that the Union provides, and has implications for fundraising for other charities.

Below are some guidelines for societies, covering some of the aspects of charitable law that affect societies - particularly charitable or political ones. If you're unsure about what Charitable Law may mean for the activities of your society, come and speak to Matthew (Director of Student Development and Activities) or e-mail dosda@st-andrews.ac.uk.
Societies, Ultra Vires and Charitable Law

Because of the nature of the Students’ Association as a charitable body, charitable law places certain restrictions on the way in which money can be spent on certain activities that have both political or charitable aims. The Association basically cannot directly financially support activities purely designed to raise money for another charitable body, or to directly financially support political activity that is not specifically related to a student cause, or affects ‘students as students’, rather than just members of the population. The term ‘ultra vires’ (meaning beyond the power of) is used in relation to activities that contravene charitable law in some way.

Below are some extracts from a document on this issue which might help to explain things. What should be stressed is that in no way should societies be made to stop any activities which may be ‘ultra vires’, just that the union is unable to fund or financially support such activities.

This is how the Department for Education and Employment's "Guidance on Student Unions" put it in 1995:
"As a broad general rule, expenditure of union funds is likely to be permitted only if it furthers the interests of the students in a way that assists in the educational aims of the university or college...The circumstances in which funds and facilities can be used for campaigning (either on local or national issues) are very limited. The first requirement is that the issue must affect present and future members of the union as students."
This guidance cites as examples of campaigns which would fulfil this requirement: local issues such as better street lighting near campus, more public transport at night and nursery places for students' children; and national issues such as student fees, loans and grants. Examples of ultra vires campaigning on national issues which it gives include industrial disputes, general campaigning on environmental issues and the treatment of political prisoners in foreign countries. A key point: the law regards SUs as necessarily educational charities linked to a particular educational institution. The result is that "if a students' union is charity, its objects (as set out in its constitution) normally cannot be changed so as to make them non-charitable, even by a unanimous vote of the union". What this means is that SUs cannot normally reformulate their objectives in order to be able spend money on whatever they want.

·         Whether or not the campaign that a SU wishes to support is a charity has nothing to do with whether it is ultra vires to spend money on it. "The fact that a students' union is a charity does not mean, of itself, that donations can be made to other charities." A SU can donate to a non-charitable, highly political campaign that falls within its own charitable remit (eg on education funding); but cannot donate to a totally non-political charity that falls outside it.
To sum up...

• A union may purchase material from any type of external organisation to be used as a basis for education and debate.
• A union may not support a political party
• A union may not itself campaign on issues which affect students but only as general members of the population, such as the war in Iraq (eg by affiliating to the Stop the War Coalition or United Campaign to Repeal the Anti-Trade Union Laws).
• A union may not donate funds to an external organisation or cause if it receives nothing in return.

Charities law in practise

Procurement of educational materials

As the DFEE Guidance puts it: "A students' union can affiliate to a campaigning alliance...but the issues on which the alliance is campaigning must be of a kind which the union could campaign for directly itself [followed by a reference back to the examples cited above]...Otherwise [emphasis added] a students' union...can only affiliate to particular campaigns or external organisations for the purposes of obtaining educational material or information to assist in the discussion and expression of views."
In light of this, why shouldn't an SU affiliate to a campaign at a given cost and ask it for educational materials in return? The Guidance adds that "any affiliation fee must be reasonable": reasonable, it explains, in relation to any benefit to students which may be expected, and to the financial resources and other commitments of the union. But clearly this is a very subjective determination, and certainly provides enough flexibility to make all but very large payments. For instance, while paying a group of strikers £5,000 in return for materials on their dispute might be problematic, paying a campaign £100 or £500 in affiliation in return for materials would not be. The same goes for paying money to "educational" speakers. This approach is one which many SUs take at the moment, with no difficulties whatsoever.


Fundraising

i) Collections
DfEE Guidance: “There is, of course, no objection whatsoever to students joining together to collect their own monies for a particular purpose for which union funds cannot be used.” And of course an SU can greatly facilitate such collections by collecting funds at its meetings and events, advertising them on its website and in its publications and having sabbaticals and other officers devoting time to organising them.

ii) Benefit events
The same principles apply here as apply to RAG events, which most SUs of course organise regularly. We stress this point because, again, there seems to be a widespread belief that RAG fundraising for non-political charities is legally acceptable while different rules somehow apply to raising money for political campaigns. In fact, there is nothing other than political will preventing RAG organisers from deciding to raise money for political campaigns and continuing to fundraise with same methods as before. According to NUS, the following rules apply. Benefits must be specifically organised as such; all adverts for the event must indicate where the money is going; and the proceeds can only be donated after all other costs are deducted. This means, for instance, that if the SU organises a club night every Friday, it can't suddenly decide on Friday afternoon to make it a benefit gig for an ultra vires cause. However, it seems obvious that these requirements do not pose any real difficulties for fundraising.

In short: if you want your SU to raise large amounts of money for a political campaign which is not directly student-related, organising a benefit gig is an easy, fun and straightforwardly legal way to do it.
 
Speakers and Debates
Societies can hold events and meetings in order to engage in political discussions. These sorts of events can be funded by the grants received from the Students’ Association, provided that they are debates in actuality and not in name only.
 
Speakers attending your society must be open to questions from the floor for a reasonable amount of time, and dissenting views must be allowed to be aired. A chair should be nominated, and it is the responsibility of the Chair to enforce these rules. Any complaints about the conduct of the chair should be sent to the committee firstly, and the Societies Committee thereafter. For information and support on organising a debate, you can contact the Debating Society at debates@st-andrews.ac.uk
 
Outside Affiliations
Societies may affiliate to relevant external organisation only for the purpose of obtaining education material or information that will assist in the discussion and expression of views. The sum required for affiliation must be reasonable and all members must be aware that their subscription could contribute to an external affiliation. All external affiliations must be displayed prominently on publicity, and at stalls at the Freshers’ Fayre, so that every member is aware of them. Any external affiliation must be declared in the constitution of the society and, as such, is subject to the approval of the Societies Committee.
 
Membership Regulations
No society can require its members to join any other body. It is for a society to offer membership of a body to which they are affiliated as an additional benefit of membership, provided that every member has the right to decline. No extra fee need be charged in this case, but no part of the subscription of a member can be given to an external organisation without their consent. This consent does not have to be expressed; they just have to have the option to refuse.
 
 
Association/Union Elections.
 
Societies themselves are not allowed to campaign or endorce a Students’ Association election candidate. 
Health & Safety
Societies need to risk assess all of the events that they put on, so as to lessen the risk of their events.  
Requirements:
Basically all you and your society have to do is fill out the General Risk Assessment form given to you at the start of the year (or available to download from the website). The General Risk Assessment is for all the day to day activities and operations and any frequent or recurring events and activities that you have stated on the same form.
If your society holds any additional events, then a separate risk assessment must be submitted to the Societies Committee or the Director of Student Development and Activities at least two weeks before the event.
Filling in a Risk Assessment:
First, you have to identify any hazards. It could be just moving tables about that could get dropped, or it could be the hazards connected to using technical equipment, or the possibility of someone getting injured on a hill walking expedition. Sometimes there might be long term health hazards too – for example, exposure to loud music on a frequent basis might damage hearing. You need to state how likely it is that an accident may occur – very likely/likely/not likely. , Then you have to state what you are already doing to mean that an accident is less likely to occur, and work out what action has to be taken in order to make sure that the risks are reduced ‘as far as reasonably possible’.
Finally, you have to make sure that you can put those steps into action, and remember to review your risk assessment as necessary.
If you require any help with a risk assessment or are unsure of anything, just come and ask the societies committee. You can also seek advice on this from Phil Pass, the Director of Events and Services.
 

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