PCCs are charities, and their members are Charity Trustees (see our page on trusteeship). In this section, we offer some resources to help PCCs and their members.
Compliance Checklist
Working with the legal and safeguarding teams, we’ve produced a handy Checklist to help you ensure you’re on top of most of the key aspects of good governance and compliance. Completing this could be done together as a PCC to build awareness of what is required, or led by one of the officers building input from others as necessary.
Data Protection & GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will take effect in the UK from 25 May 2018. Parishes must comply with its requirements, just like any other charity or organisation. We’ve lots of guidance, templates and a checklist to help parishes implement this.
Forms for Electoral Rolls, APCMs and PCC Meetings
Click here for the forms you need to revise your electoral roll and run the parish’s annual parochial church meeting.
Click here for a monthly Parish Parochial Church meetings notice template. Please note the inclusion of the agenda on this document is optional.
Charity Registration
Those PCCs with annual incomes over £100,000 are required by law to register with the Charity Commission. Click here for full guidance on the process for registering your PCC if your income is above this threshold. For registered PCCs, we also offer guidance on when you should show your registered status. Registered charities will also need to report serious incidents to the Charity Commission.
Setting up Joint Councils under the Church Representation Rules 2020 and PCC Registration with the Charity Commission
We have put together these FAQs to assist PCCs:
(A) considering establishing a Joint Council; or
(B) which are excepted from registration with the Charity Commission but either
have become required to register with the Charity Commission as their annual income has, due to a one-off event, exceeded £100K; or
wish to register with the Charity Commission on a voluntary basis.
Governing Documents
Click here to find out more about the documents which set out governance arrangements for PCCs.
PCC Policies
You will need certain policies to ensure that you have the processes in place to manage potential issues, and that you’ve agreed as a Council how you will do this. The policies that you will need will depend on your situation, but guidance to help you with some of the common ones is available here.
Good Practice with Reserves & Restricted Funds
We have produced a “Good Practice” guide to developing Reserves Policies. There is also a guide to Restricted Funds, and how parishes can manage these effectively.
Risk Management
Click here to see our guidance on managing risks – with checklists and examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click here to see our page of FAQs about PCCs as Charities.
