The Charity Commission updated its safeguarding guidance for trustees on 8 October 2026. The biggest change for charities working with children is that the supervision exemption has gone. Since 1 September 2026, anyone who teaches, trains, instructs, cares for or supervises children more than three days in any 30, or overnight, is in regulated activity even when someone else supervises them. Roles such as assistant coaches and youth group helpers may now need an enhanced check that includes the children’s barred list. The government has set out what the change means.
The guidance also says that some charities running online services, such as a forum or messaging, may have duties under the Online Safety Act 2023. It repeats that safeguarding policies should be reviewed at least once a year and after any serious incident.
Trustees should look again at which roles they check, update their recruitment and volunteering policies, and set a date for the next policy review. Our free safeguarding policy checklist and trustee safeguarding induction checklist can help, and the Safeguarding Health Check covers all of this in one review.
