The Charity Commission says charities need their governing documents to permit them to hold official meetings remotely.

Since April 2020, the regulator has allowed charities in England and Wales to hold meetings remotely outside of what was permitted in their official documents because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But the commission has updated its online guidance for charities on Covid-19 to say that charity meetings such as AGMs, member or trustee meetings must be held in person unless the organisation’s governing documents permit otherwise.

All registered charities will need to ensure that their governing documents permit them to hold official meetings remotely if they wish to continue doing so after 22nd April 2022.  

H&F registered charities are strongly encouraged to check their governance document to see whether it includes that meetings can be held remotely.  

Paul Latham, director of communications and policy at the Charity Commission, said: “We’ve taken a flexible and supportive approach to regulation during the pandemic, being understanding when charities have had to hold meetings outside of the terms of their governing document.

“As restrictions have been lifted it’s right that charities return to meeting the requirements of their governing document or making the necessary changes to allow them to hold meetings in the way that works best for them.”

Submitting returns to the Charities Commission:

The regulator said it also wanted to remind charities that they no longer had an automatic right to apply for a Covid-related filing extension for annual documents, which was introduced during the pandemic.

The ability for charities to do this was removed last year, meaning charities must again submit their annual returns within 10 months of the end of the financial year, but the commission said it was still receiving applications from charities for such extensions.