About the Charity Commission

The Charity Commission registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. We offer them advice and provide a wide range of services and guidance to help them run as effectively as possible. We also keep the online Register of Charities, which provides information about each of the thousands of registered charities in England and Wales.

The Charity Commission is a non-ministerial government department, part of the Civil Service. We are funded by the Treasury, like other government departments.  We are accountable to Parliament.  We are independent of Ministers and also independent from the sector we regulate. We have a number of quasi-judicial functions where we use similar powers to the High Court.

Our statutory objectives, from the 2006 Charities Act, are to:

• increase public trust and confidence in charities;
• promote awareness and understanding of the operation of the public benefit requirement;
• promote compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations in exercising the management of the administration of their charities;
• promote the effective use of charitable resources; and
• enhance the accountability of charities to their donors, beneficiaries and the general public.

Read more information about the Charity Commission and registered charities.