Charities Act 2011

The Charities Act 2011 (c. 25) is a UK act of Parliament. It consolidated the bulk of the Charities Act 2006, outstanding provisions of the Charities Act 1993, and various other enactments.

Repeals
Legislation repealed in its entirety by the 2011 Act included Amendments were made to other legislation. It replaced most of the Charities Act 1992 and Charities Act 2006.
 * the Recreational Charities Act 1958,
 * Charities Act 1993,
 * Charities (Amendment) Act 1995,
 * Charities Act 1993 (Substitution of Sums) Order 1995,
 * Charities Act 2006 (Charitable Companies Audit and Group Accounts Provisions) Order 2008, and
 * Charities (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Order 2011.

Independent examination
Section 145(1)(a) allowed for charities' financial accounts to be independently examined where a full audit is not required. An "independent examiner" is a person not connected to the charity who is "reasonably believed by the trustees to have the requisite ability and practical experience to carry out a competent examination of the accounts".

Social investment by charities
Additional provisions were added by the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 granting a "general power" to charities to make "social investments", that is actions undertaken both to further the organisation's charitable aims and to make a financial surplus. In this context a charity's actions do not need to be financial "investments" as the term would generally be understood.