By Claire Racine

The Charity Commission, has added information to the online register of charities to make it clear if a charity has been the subject of an inquiry or regulatory case report, or where an interim manager is in place.

Now when a charity has been the subject of an inquiry report or a regulatory case report, a link from the charity’s entry on the online register will connect to the relevant document.

The link will remain for six months, the length of time the reports normally stay on the Commission’s website.

“We have been making inquiry reports and regulatory case reports available on the website for some time, but now we are increasing visibility by adding the link to the charity’s register entry,” said Andrew Hind, the Commission’s chief executive.

“This is all part of the Commission’s drive to make information about charities more accessible, particularly to the public.”

The register will also now “flag” when an interim manager has been appointed to a charity. This provides their name and contact details, provides additional information about their function and indicates whether the appointment is to the exclusion of other trustees.

A recent survey of users of the website showed that one in five visitors are members of the public looking to find out information on charities, said Hind.

The short-term markers make it clear when there has been an inquiry or a report and will hopefully make the website more useful for visitors.