Public Benefit and Charitable Status: Assessing a 20 year process of reforming the primary legal framework for voluntary activity in the UK

Charitable status is self-evidently a key framework for a great deal of voluntary activity in the United Kingdom (UK) and in an increasing number of overseas jurisdictions. This article offers a critical review of the processes involved in revising the definition of ‘charity’ in the UK over the last 20 years, with specific attention to the principle of public benefit. It considers particularly the impact of the Deakin (1996) Commission and the subsequent reform of charity law enacted for England and Wales in the Charities Act 2006, plus the parallel changes in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The aim is not to offer a detailed legal analysis, but more to consider how these changes to the definition of ‘charity’ impact on voluntary activity more widely.