Some of you may have spotted the recent consultation issued by the Law Commission which seeks to review and revise the laws governing community benefit societies (and co-ops). Much of the law is hundreds of years old.
Some of you may have heard us speak about this already, and at one of our recent company secretary sessions we agreed to organise a forum through which we could gather some collective thoughts from the sector and submit those as part of the Law Commission's consultation process.
Whilst there are quite a number of changes proposed, a few of those in particular have the ability to impact on RP community benefit societies quite considerably, and quite unhelpfully depending on the outcome of the consultation process. For that reason it is important that we feedback on those issues specifically.
Two of the main changes proposed include:
- A new statutory definition for community benefit societies, including a requirement that shareholding memberships of these societies be voluntary and “open to all“. What this would mean in reality is part of the debate and part of what is being asked, but the potential impact of any requirement to open up membership of CBS housing providers is obviously significant, and would be concerning for many. It is therefore something the sector will want to comment on.
- The regulation of charitable community benefit societies. Most CBS RPs operate as charitable societies. A key question is who will do that for RPs – will that be the Charity Commission, the FCA, the Social Housing Regulator? And what will it mean – will charity CBSs then become subject to all the elements of the Charities Act which only currently apply to registered charities? The more onerous property disposals regime for example.
As well as these more pressing changes, others have been put forward which may be of lesser concern. The listing of CBS officers on the Mutuals Public Register, with statute to prescribe duties owed by officers. This makes things more akin to those many of you will be familiar as they apply to companies registered with Companies House.
At this virtual session we will run through the key changes being proposed, and organise smaller break out rooms to gather feedback and thoughts which we will then submit to the Law Commission on behalf of all attending.
To register click the RSVP button. We look forward to seeing you.
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