37,000 CICs and Zero Formal Investigations — the Regulator Is Too Soft and I'm Worried

Rob Preston wrote an article in Civil Society this year that stopped me cold. He pointed out that with over 37,000 CICs on the register, the CIC Regulator has conducted zero formal investigations. Not one. Not ever. Thirty-seven thousand organisations, some of which must be operating outside the rules, and the regulatory response has been entirely reactive.

This is a problem that I’ve been slow to acknowledge. I’ve spent twenty years defending the CIC regulatory framework. I served on the Technical Panel. I’ve argued that the light-touch approach is appropriate for a voluntary legal structure that organisations choose precisely because of its regulatory guardrails. I’ve pointed to the community interest report compliance rate and the low complaint levels as evidence that the system works.

But thirty-seven thousand and zero is a ratio that can’t be defended. Some of those 37,000 CICs are failing to file their reports. Some are operating in ways that don’t meet the community interest test. Some are using the CIC brand for activities that have little to do with community benefit. And the Regulator isn’t investigating any of them.

The government is reportedly considering merging the CIC Regulator into Companies House. That would be a mistake. Companies House is a registry. It doesn’t investigate or enforce. Merging the CIC function into it would effectively end proactive regulation of the CIC brand.

The CIC brand is valuable. It signals trust, accountability, and community purpose. But that value depends on the brand meaning something. If 37,000 organisations can use the CIC label without any meaningful oversight, the brand will eventually be degraded.

I’m not calling for heavy-handed regulation. I’m calling for proportionate enforcement. A regulator with the resources to investigate when complaints are made. A proactive monitoring programme for high-risk sectors. A clear message that the community interest test isn’t just a form to file — it’s a commitment to be enforced.

Thirty-seven thousand CICs is success. Zero investigations is not. The CIC movement has grown up. It’s time for the regulatory framework to grow up with it.