MALCOLM Offord's charity is breaking the law in Scotland and must register with regulators, an inquiry has found.
The Reform UK Scotland leader's charity the Badenoch Trust is under investigation by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulation (OSCR).
Offord is listed as a trustee of the charity, which he said he would donate his MSP salary to.
The Badenoch Trust is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, but does not appear on the OSCR, despite operating from Scotland.
TFN, a news outlet for the third sector, reports that the initial stages of the inquiry have led to the OSCR instructing the trust to register north of the Border, as required by charity law.
Under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, all organisations that represent themselves as charities in Scotland must register with the OSCR.
The Badenoch Trust does not meet these requirements despite being "managed and controlled mainly in Scotland and carries out ongoing administrative activities from premises in Scotland", the OSCR found.
The inquiry remains open while the trust is given an opportunity to resolve the law breach, and is expected to register with the OSCR.
An OSCR spokesperson told TFN: “Based on the information the Badenoch Trust has provided to OSCR, it appears that the charity is managed and controlled mainly in Scotland and carries out ongoing administrative activities from premises in Scotland.
“As such, the charity meets the criteria for registration with the OSCR.
“In these circumstances, we have advised the charity to apply to register with OSCR at the earliest opportunity. Further guidance on cross-border charity regulation, including how to apply, can be found on the OSCR website.”
The Badenoch Trust's 2024 accounts show the organisation is administered from 10 Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, the same address as Offord's firm Badenoch & Co.
When it emerged that Offord's charity was under investigation, a spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said that it was a "serious escalation" and that the Reform Scotland leader should pause any plans to give his MSP salary to the trust until "these questions are resolved".
“Charities operating in Scotland are expected to follow Scotland’s charity rules. OSCR’s own guidance is clear that organisations which represent themselves as charities in Scotland may be required to register here, including charities already registered in England and Wales," the spokesperson said at the time.
“Nobody is saying that a super-rich individual giving his MSP salary to charity is a bad thing. The issue is that of all the charities in Scotland he could have chosen, Lord Offord chose his own trust. The same charity that is now subject to a formal inquiry by the Scottish charity regulator."
A Reform UK spokesperson previously said: “The charity was set up in 2007 in London where Malcolm Offord Offord [sic] at the time. It currently remains registered in London.”
Reform UK Scotland have been contacted for comment.
