Scotland will switch on a new layer of charity transparency next month. From Monday 9 March 2026, the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) will begin publishing the names of every charity’s trustees and full, unredacted annual reports and accounts on the Scottish Charity Register. For Northern organisations operating across the border, that means board lists and financials will be visible to donors, funders and the public at a click. (oscr.org.uk)

The legal trigger lands in early March via the third commencement regulations under the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023, which activate the remaining provisions on trustee name publication and online access to accounts. OSCR’s implementation date of 9 March ensures those measures bite practically on the register itself. (oscr.org.uk)

In plain terms, two big changes will be obvious on a charity’s register page: first and last names of all current trustees will appear, and every set of accounts submitted after the change will be posted online in full for at least five years. OSCR will not publish contact details, dates of birth or addresses, but charities should double‑check what personal data they include in their own reports before filing. (oscr.org.uk)

OSCR has already been collecting trustee details through its portal since 30 June 2025, and says the move is about trust as much as compliance. “This is a positive and important change for Scotland’s charity sector,” chief executive Katriona Carmichael said when the data collection opened last summer. (oscr.org.uk)

There is a safety valve. Trustees can apply for their name not to be shown where publication would be likely to jeopardise the safety or security of a person or premises. OSCR says exemption requests must be lodged within 28 days of adding a trustee in OSCR Online; if an application isn’t received in time or is refused, the name will be published. (oscr.org.uk)

For charities already on the Scottish Charity Register before the changes take effect, there’s a short transitional step: OSCR won’t display trustee names until the charity supplies them via the annual return or an update through OSCR Online. For many smaller groups, that makes the next return cycle the tidy moment to get compliant.

Cross‑border organisations need to pay close attention. If a Northern charity represents itself as a charity in Scotland or runs substantive activity there, it must be on the Scottish Charity Register and follow Scottish rules. Where a charity is registered with both OSCR and the Charity Commission for England and Wales, it answers to both, and in practice must meet the most stringent accounting requirements across the two regimes. (oscr.org.uk)

The register itself is also getting richer. Alongside trustee names and accounts, OSCR will show a short description of what each charity does, plus headline numbers for staff, trustees and volunteers. It’s a small change that gives funders in places like Cumbria and Northumberland a clearer snapshot of Scottish partners they back. (oscr.org.uk)

Accountants flag one more shift in the same window: for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2026, Scotland’s audit income threshold moves from £500,000 to £1 million, aligning with the new Charities SORP 2026 timetable. Some technical provisions of those accounts rules kick in once the new online publication duty starts. Boards should check which years this catches and whether an audit is still required by constitutions or funders. (gov.scot)

What should Northern charities with Scottish registrations do now? Make sure trustee schedules in OSCR Online are complete and accurate, brief trustees that names will go public from 9 March, consider whether any exemption applications are justified, and review this year’s accounts with publication in mind. With more scrutiny comes more confidence-but only if the basics are tight. (oscr.org.uk)

For avoidance of doubt, these transparency steps sit alongside other updates under the 2023 Act, including wider inquiry powers already live and new automatic disqualification rules that took effect on 31 August 2025 for trustees and certain senior managers. If you sit on a board with North–Scotland reach, schedule time at the next meeting to tick through compliance. (oscr.org.uk)