In a rapidly changing political environment, staying connected to the latest thinking and practice across our sector is vital. At ACEVO, we aim to highlight emerging issues that shape how leaders operate. These policy updates provide sector news and insights linked to ACEVO’s organisational priorities, including governance, regulation, chairs-boards and diversity, whilst also highlighting our influencing work and any relevant legislation.
Legislation
Autumn budget
On Wednesday 26 November, Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out the Autumn Budget, raising an additional circa £26bn. ACEVO’s Head of Influencing, Roberta Fusco, has shared her thoughts on LinkedIn and our friends at Charity Finance Group and the Directory of Social Change have written helpful blogs which outline sector-relevant announcements.
In summary, the government is taking action to cut the cost-of-living. Household energy bills are expected to go down by £150, rail fares and prescription charges are being frozen, the existing two-child Universal Credit limit will be lifted and there will be some spending increases e.g. in public services, healthcare and welfare. Additionally, the national minimum wage for over 21-s will go up and younger workers will also see a pay rise, but we will need to see contracts uplifted to reflect those additional costs for charity sector employers to avoid seeing cuts to services and impacts on financial sustainability.
The one big change is that income-tax thresholds will be frozen, so as wages rise with inflation or over time, more people will get taxed or taxed at higher rates. Because of this freeze and other stealth taxes, many households may pay more without real wage increases. As the Institute for Government says, for low- and middle-income households, this could dent their ability to save or increase their living standards over time.
The most relevant measures announced directly to our sector were the introduction of a new VAT relief from 1 April 2026 for business donations of goods to charity for distribution to those in need or use in the delivery of their charitable services and making salary sacrifice pension schemes less generous, capping the amount that is exempt from Employer and Employee NICs at £2k annually from April 2029.
Civil Society Covenant
ACEVO CEO Jane Ide received a letter from the Head of the Government Grants Function following the publication of the Civil Society Covenant. The letter set out the actions the Cabinet Office is taking in support of the Covenant from the perspective of government grant funding. So far, it has refreshed its general grants policy, to ensure that government grant makers are aware of the Covenant and how it impacts government grant agreements, updated and republished guidance on government grant agreements – minimum requirement six, and revised its model grant funding agreement template and published it to increase transparency.
It has introduced a dedicated mailbox, for civil society organisations to provide feedback on the use of the Model Grant Funding Agreement template by government funders: ggmf.civilsociety@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. The Cabinet Office is also planning to work with colleagues in the Office for Civil Society, to identify opportunities for future engagement with the sector.
Governance
ACEVO, AoC and nfp Research: board behaviours and dynamics survey
ACEVO, the Association of Chairs, and nfpResearch are running a new survey that explores how CEOs and chairs work together, what helps or hinders these relationships, and how culture and trustee engagement shape decision-making. It takes around 15 minutes to complete, and all responses are completely anonymous; no individual or organisation will be identified in any reporting. Your insight will help build a clearer picture of what strong leadership looks like across our sector.
Charities Act 2022
Further changes to the Charities Act 2022 came into force on 27 November 2025. These changes are around how charities make ex gratia or moral payments. The changes will enable trustees to delegate decision-making authority for moral payments to other people at the charity, for example a member of staff or a trustee sub-committee and will enable charities to make certain moral payments without Commission authority. Read more about these changes and click here for an overview of the full changes.
Government to consult on expanded powers for the Charity Commission
The government is set to consult on expanded powers for the Charity Commission to ban people convicted of hate crimes from trusteeship and holding senior manager positions. The plans would expand current rules banning those with unspent convictions related to terrorism, money-laundering and bribery, among other things. The consultation is set to be launched in early 2026.
Leadership
Charity CEO salaries webinar
Following the publication of the 2025 Pay and Equalities report, we held a webinar on Charity CEO Salaries. You can watch the recording to hear from Roberta Fusco who gave a brief overview of the report, followed by a discussion between the chief executives of ACEVO, Co3, Charity Leadership Scotland and Eastside People who explored the role of chairs and trustees and what needs to change for genuine accountability and equity in leadership, why so many charity leaders still go without annual appraisals or fair processes for discussing pay, the persistent gender pay gap and why women are still more likely to lead smaller, lower-paid organisations, and the systemic barriers to leadership for women and people from underrepresented backgrounds.
Diversity
Home Truths 2
In closing the active phase of Home Truths 2, we offer some reflections from Reframing Race director and HT2 lead, Sanjiv Lingayah, ACEVO’s head of influencing, Roberta Fusco and director of Voice4Change England, Kunle Olulode. Sanjiv gives some thoughts about the Home Truths 2 programme itself and Roberta and Kunle’s blogs articulate the work ahead to shift civil society away from being a site of racism to becoming central to anti-racism.
Stay tuned for more videos from Lena Bheeroo who led the first Race Equity Series (RES) session on why we need to move beyond diversity and Mandeep Rupra who led the fourth RES session on mission-driven race equity.
As these updates show, the external environment for leaders and their organisations is shifting quickly. We will continue to share insights, resources and reflections to help leaders navigate changes with confidence. And we also want to hear from you! How are these changes affecting your organisation? Share your experiences with us at policy@acevo.org.uk.