Governance Briefing — July 1, 2025
England and Wales charities must file the expanded 2025 Annual Return, capturing board oversight metrics, fundraising controls, and serious incident governance.
Executive briefing: Charity Commission guidance confirms that from 1 July 2025, charities reporting on financial years ending in 2025 must submit the enhanced Annual Return. Trustees will need governance data covering risk management, safeguarding, fundraising oversight, and trustee payments to maintain public accountability.
Key governance signals
- Board composition data. Charities must disclose trustee numbers, turnover, and governance policies, spotlighting succession planning.
- Risk and safeguarding reporting. New questions capture serious incident management, whistleblowing arrangements, and controls over overseas operations.
- Fundraising oversight. Trustees must outline relationships with professional fundraisers and compliance with fundraising codes.
Action checklist
- Update trustee registers and governance policies to support accurate Annual Return data entry.
- Review serious incident logs, safeguarding frameworks, and whistleblowing procedures to ensure board oversight is evidenced.
- Coordinate finance and fundraising teams to document agreements with external fundraisers and monitoring arrangements.
Sources
- Charity Commission guidance: Complete the annual return
- Charity Commission news: Annual Return 2025 changes
Zeph Tech equips trustee boards with governance evidence packs, risk dashboards, and compliance workflows tailored to the 2025 Annual Return.