CIO

The Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) is a new incorporated form created by the Charities Act 2006. Many aspects of the CIO are similar to those of a company limited by guarantee, but the CIO can only be used by an organisation which is charitable. It is intended to have all the advantages of incorporation, without the burdens of dual registration and requirements to comply with two sets of law, as the CIO will be regulated by the Charity Commission.

The CIO structure is not yet available. In 2008, the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office and the Charity Commission published a joint consultation on the Secondary Legislation and model constitutions needed to complete the legal framework for the CIO. Following the consultation a number of changes were made to the framework as a result of the consultation feedback.

In March 2011 the Charity Commission published guidance on CIO's.  The guidance includes information on the two models of CIO's which will become available- the Foundation Model and the Association Model.The two sets of regulations, which set out much of the legal framework for CIOs, have not yet been agreed by Parliament, so there may be changes to the regulations and to the guidance provided by the Charity Commission.

It is expected that the secondary legislation needed to implement CIO will be put to Parliament in the Autumn.

If you have any questions or issues which you think are not covered by the current guidance you can contact the Charity Commission.

Further information on the CIO.