Commentary on provisions of Act Section 3: Range of conduct to be considered when exercising powers
Section 3 inserts into the Charities Act 2011 new section 76A. Where the Commission has opened an inquiry into charity A, provided there has been misconduct/mismanagement in charity A and the Commission can link it to a person, this provision enables the Commission to take into account any other relevant evidence of that person’s conduct for example in charity B or outside of charity but which may damage public trust and confidence in charity, for the purpose of deciding what protective power(s) it would be proportionate/appropriate to exercise in relation to charity A. In effect, once misconduct or mismanagement has been established this provision enables the Commission to consider whether there is other relevant evidence of misconduct or mismanagement in other charities, or conduct outside of charities which could undermine public trust and confidence in charities before determining how to act.
	The Charity Commission could only take account of conduct that would be relevant to the management or administration of a charity and the Charity Commission would have to set out in its statement of reasons (section 86 Charities Act 2011 or under the new Official Warning Power in section 1 of this Act) the conduct it was taking into account in decisions to exercise any compliance powers. The Charity Commission would not be able to take into account any conduct that was not relevant to the management or administration of a charity.