CORRESPONDENCE FILES: CHARITIES REVIEW

The Charities Act 1960 required registration of all charities and gave local authorities power to review local charities (including bequests, financing, organisation and aims) to create greater transparency and coordination of their functions; participation was voluntary and trustees were to be persuaded of its benefits; religious charities were excluded; local authorities could appoint voluntary organisations to carry out the review; OCC made its initial approach to ORCC in a letter of 22 Mar 1961 (see O41/1/C23/1) and appointed ORCC to undertake a charities review in Mar 1967; the Charities Review Officer (Sir Charles Kimber) began looking at Witney RDC in Jun 1967; a key issue unearthed by Kimber was the numerous charitable trusts (responsible for 600+ acres in Oxon) set up under the Inclosure Acts to provide fuel for the poor (in compensation for rights lost); the final report Oxfordshire Parish Charities 1967-1974 was presented to OCC in Jan 1974 (see CC1/24/A7/1 for a copy of the report); OCC maintained a register of local charities from 1962 until 1991 (see OCC records CC3/3/R5); this is now available online at the Charities Commission website