The UK Charity Governance Code Now Recommends an AI Policy. Few Charities Have an Approved One.

In November 2025 the UK's Charity Governance Code was refreshed with a recommendation that charities have a policy for the use of technology and AI tools (
). It was a quiet update, easy to miss.

How many have one? There is no single clean figure. The Future Charity Report, published by the Charity Excellence Framework in April 2026, found fewer than one in four charities have approved AI tools, policies or training in place (
). That is one report, and surveys of this kind define "policy" differently, so treat it as an indication, not a count.

The duty is older than the technology

Nothing in the Charities Act 2011 was written with AI in mind. In general, trustees' existing duties, to act with reasonable care and skill, in the charity's best interests and in line with the law, apply to decisions about AI as they do to any other decision. This is general information, not legal advice. The gap is usually not a missing law. It is a missing conversation.

What "ready" looks like

Not a 40-page policy nobody reads. A practical version:

• Find out where AI already touches the organisation. Most boards are guessing.
• Name one person accountable for AI oversight. "Everyone's responsibility" works out as nobody's.
• Write a policy that names data protection and safeguarding, not a generic IT memo with "AI" in the title.
• Make sure trustees and staff have been shown how to use AI safely.

Take the Free AI Governance Check →

Updated 16 October 2026 after re-checking every source.