News

Burness has formed South Seeds, the first ever Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO). The SCIO is a brand new legal model, giving the benefit of limited liability and the status of a corporate body - similar to a company, but tailor-made for charities.

Burness has been directly involved with the development of the SCIO model from its early stages, working closely with the Bill team at the stage when the legislation was going through the parliamentary processes in 2005. More recently, Stephen Phillips of Burness was an active participant in the working party set up to guide the Scottish Government on implementation.

The SCIO form enables charitable organisations to enter into contracts, employ staff, own property and have protection against personal liability for trustees - without being subject to the complexities of company law. Unlike charities that are also companies, SCIOs have OSCR as a single regulator, making incorporation and ongoing administration much simpler.

South Seeds - the first new charity to make use of the SCIO form - is a grass-roots project based in Govanhill, Glasgow, which aims to involve young people in community gardening projects and encourage local residents to reduce their carbon emissions.

There are a number of other SCIOs in the pipeline, including two further SCIO applications which Burness has already submitted to OSCR. Dundee City Council recently made the decision to adopt the SCIO model for the new Dundee Leisure and Culture Trust which is intended to take over the operation of all of Dundee's leisure centres, libraries and museums; Burness is acting as external legal advisers to Dundee City Council in relation to that project.

The entity has been available to existing Scottish charities and new applicants for charitable status since 1 April 2011. Existing charitable companies and charitable industrial and provident societies will be able to apply to convert to SCIO form from 1 January 2012.

Stephen Phillips, Partner at Burness, said: “I am delighted to have had the opportunity to support the development of the SCIO structure, from assisting the Scottish Government’s Bill team in working up the SCIO proposals to more recent work at the implementation stage. It is a really satisfying feeling to see that brought to a head through the formation of the very first SCIO.

This is a great new development for the Scottish charity sector. I am convinced that the SCIO model will become the model of choice for the vast majority of new Scottish charities; and I am sure that once the conversion process becomes available, many existing Scottish charities currently operating as companies limited by guarantee will elect to change to the SCIO model.

In addition to forming the first SCIO, Burness also formed the first Community Interest Company (CIC) in Scotland when that new model was first introduced. Innovation is one of our key values; and we are proud to be at the forefront of these new development.”