CSPA Incorporation
We are consulting members on our status as an unincorporated association, and alternatives including the CSPA becoming incorporated, to ensure a more sustainable future for the organisation in an ever-changing world.
Our aim is to ensure a more sustainable future for the organisation
We are consulting members on our status as an unincorporated association, and alternatives including the CSPA becoming incorporated, to ensure a more sustainable future for the organisation in an ever-changing world.
Before taking any decision to make fundamental, structural changes, the EC would like to hear from you, our members. We urge as many members as possible to share their views. The deadline for your survey response is 27 March – don’t delay, do it today!
Review of the CSPA’s legal structure and its status
The CSPA is an unincorporated association, owned and run by its members, with 34 active groups in England and Wales and two autonomous branches in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The organisation has a written constitution that can only be varied by the Annual General Meeting (AGM), and the two branches, and some groups, also have their own constitutions.
Associations are easy to set up – all that is needed is for the members to agree – and there is flexibility in terms of how they operate, with few legal requirements. Unincorporated organisations do not have to file accounts or other information with Companies House or any other regulatory bodies.
However, there are also some downsides. As unincorporated organisations have no legal identity of their own, they do not ‘exist’. All contractual and financial undertakings, such as the lease of premises and equipment, must be taken on by the trustees in their personal capacities.
Although, as an association, we can (and do) have insurances to cover any liabilities, this is not always a failsafe, and our exposure to risk in the event of penalties or claims against the association is technically unlimited.
The CSPA Executive Council (EC) has been reviewing the CSPA’s status in recent years, with the benefit of some training, and the 2025 Annual General Meeting supported the EC’s request to consult members on our status and alternatives. The most obvious alternative would be for the CSPA to incorporate and become a company limited by guarantee.
In practice, this should change very little for ordinary CSPA members, and many similar membership organisations have already gone down this route. But the EC is keen to consult all members to glean their views on our current status and the case for incorporating before any decisions are made on the next steps to be taken.
Regional Meetings with Groups and Branches
Plans have been put in place to hold a series of Regional Meetings to ensure that representatives from as many Groups as possible are given the opportunity to participate in the review, ask questions and provide their feedback. Alongside these Regional Meetings around the country, separate meetings are being held with the CSPA Northern Ireland and Scotland Branches, to investigate the implications and alternatives for them.
To ensure consistency, all meetings are to be hosted by a panel comprising the General Secretary, National Treasurer and Bernard Seymour of Regulatory Solutions Ltd, who has been advising the EC on these matters of governance. Regional Representatives and other members of the EC will also attend the meetings in London, Manchester and Reading, and the Chair and Vice Chair will also be present at some of them, dependent on their availability.
Meeting Agendas
The agenda for the meetings will be structured as follows:
- 11:00am – Welcome and Introductions
- 11:15am – General Secretary’s Update on Campaigns and work with Partner
Organisations - 11:30am – Presentation by Bernard Seymour LLB Law, Director of Regulatory
Solutions Ltd and Affinity Resolutions Ltd - 12:30pm – Lunch
- 1:30pm – Question and Answer Session
- 3:00pm – Close
Refreshments are to be provided, including teas, coffees and a light, sandwich lunch at all venues. Please advise CSPA HQ of any accessibility needs or special dietary requirements.
Meeting dates and locations
| Regions | Date | Time | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Scotland Branch |
25 March 2026 |
11am to 3pm |
Maldron Hotel Glasgow,
50 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G2 3BW |
|
Northern Ireland
Branch
|
14 April 2026 |
11am to 3pm |
Belfast – NIPSA HQ, 54-56
Wellington Park, Belfast, BT9 6DP
|
|
Midlands, SW
& Wessex
Regions
|
16 April 2026 |
11am to 3pm
|
RISC, 35-39 London Street Reading, Berkshire, RG1 4PS
|
|
Eastern,
Greater
London &
Southern
Regions
|
21 April 2026 |
11am to 3pm |
Union Jack Club, Sandell, Street, Waterloo, London, SE1 8UJ
|
|
N Wales Group, NE and NW Regions
|
23 April 2026
|
11am to 3pm |
Central Hall, Manchester Central Buildings, Oldham Street, Manchester, M1 1JQ
|
Frequently Asked Questions
The CSPA could continue as it is, but it has no legal status and office holders are exposed to potential financial risk should legal action be taken and the CSPA is unable to meet its liabilities.
The CSPA is financially stable at present, so now is the right time to change status to remove that risk.
The CSPA would become a private company limited by guarantee (CLG), registered at Companies House. The present unincorporated association would be wound up and its assets transferred to the new company.
It is a private company with no shareholders. Its members are the guarantors but, in the event of liquidation, the maximum potential liability of each member is only £1. The company must hold an AGM and is run by a Board of Directors
It would provide a legal identity and protections. As such, the CSPA could enter contracts with suppliers (which currently has to be done by the Trustees or officers, who are personally liable). It removes the potential unlimited financial risk to Trustees and officers.
Additional legal requirements would change the way the CSPA operates in a few ways. There would be an additional ongoing accountancy cost (around £500 per annum) so the accounts can be prepared and filed at Companies House.
The CSPA does have comprehensive insurance cover, but there is no guarantee that insurance claims will be met and there are exceptions and limits.
It would function pretty much as it does now, with an AGM, local groups and branches.
Yes. The Executive Council would
become the Board of Directors;
the company would need to have Articles
of Association; and there may need to
be some rule changes to comply with
company law. The annual statement
of accounts will need to be prepared
differently to comply with company law
and the balance sheet would need to
reflect the fact that group assets are held
in trust.
No, elections will continue as now,
but the Executive Council would become the Board of Directors if the CSPA were to be incorporated
No, there is no need to change or appoint new officers. Members of the Executive Council/Board of Directors will remain unpaid, as now. Staff pay will continue to be decided by the Executive Council/Board of Directors, as it is now
The detail is to be worked through with the branches but the intention is that branches will retain their present autonomy and changes would be limited to only those that are legally necessary
No. Groups would continue to operate as they do now, with their own constitutions and freedom to decide their own activities.
No, there will be no changes in membership services or representation, and the level of subscriptions would still be determined at AGMs.
No. The CSPA would continue as a not-for-profit, member-led, campaigning organisation, representing the interests of its members.
The company and the associated Articles of Association would be registered at Companies House. A Transfer of Assets document would then be drafted and a meeting held to ‘wind up’ the unincorporated association and agree the transfer of assets to the new company.
The total estimated cost, including the cost of advisers and legal advice, is around £30,000. The CSPA has a separate fund for one-off projects, held in an interest account. That fund currently has £169,000 and the cost would be drawn from it, in line with the Reserves Policy.
Nothing, and the CSPA will continue as an unincorporated association, as now.
Yes, our two partners in Later Life Ambitions, the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO) and the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners (NFOP), are both CLGs. Other campaigning organisations, such as Liberty and Amnesty International, are also CLGs.
