Serious Incident Reporting Procedure

A procedure that tells trustees, staff and volunteers what to do when something serious goes wrong – from safeguarding incidents and fraud to data breaches and loss of banking – and how to decide whether it must be reported to the Charity Commission. It follows the Commission’s guidance “How to report a serious incident in your charity” (last updated January 2026).

• As part of the charity’s governance policies, approved by the trustees
• Immediately when an incident happens – use the decision log in Appendix 1
• When completing the annual return declaration about unreported serious incidents

• Name the incident lead and deputy and fill in the contacts in Appendix 3
• Brief all trustees, staff and volunteers on the “first steps” section
• Keep the incident register (Appendix 2) up to date and review it at each board meeting
• Review the procedure every year and after any serious incident