On 21/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 21/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 21/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 01/03/2011.
22.
—(1) Property given for specific charitable purposes which fail shall be applicable cy-près as if given for charitable purposes generally, where it belongs to a donor who —
(a)
after the prescribed advertisements and inquiries have been published and made, and after the prescribed period beginning with the publication of those advertisements has expired, cannot be identified or cannot be found; or
(b)
has executed a disclaimer in the prescribed form of his right to have the property returned.
(2) Where the prescribed advertisements and inquiries have been published and made by or on behalf of trustees with respect to any such property, the trustees shall not be liable to pay to any person in respect of the property if no claim by him to be interested in the property is received by the trustees before the expiry of the period specified in subsection (1)(a).
(3) For the purposes of this section, property shall be conclusively presumed (without any advertisement or inquiry) to belong to donors who cannot be identified, in so far as it consists of the proceeds of —
(a)
cash collections made by means of collecting boxes or by other means not adapted for distinguishing one gift from another; or
(b)
any lottery, competition, entertainment, sale or similar money-raising activity, after allowing for property given to provide prizes or articles for sale or otherwise to enable the activity to be undertaken.
(4) The High Court may by order direct that property not falling within subsection (3) shall, for the purposes of this section, be treated (without any advertisement or inquiry) as belonging to donors who cannot be identified, where it appears to the Court —
(a)
that it would be unreasonable, having regard to the amounts likely to be returned to the donors, to incur expense with a view to returning the property; or
(b)
that it would be unreasonable, having regard to the nature, circumstances and amount of the gifts, and to the lapse of time since the gifts were made, for the donors to expect the property to be returned.
(5) Where property is applied cy-près by virtue of this section, the donor shall be deemed to have parted with all his interest at the time when the gift was made; but where property is so applied as belonging to donors who cannot be identified or cannot be found, and is not so applied by virtue of subsection (3) or (4) —
(a)
the scheme shall specify the total amount of that property;
(b)
the donor of any part of that amount shall be entitled, if he makes a claim not later than 6 months after the date on which the scheme is made, to recover from the charity for which the property is applied a sum equal to that part, less any expenses properly incurred by the governing board members of the charity after that date in connection with claims relating to his gift; and
(c)
the scheme may include directions as to the provision to be made for meeting any such claim.
(6) Where —
(a)
any sum is, in accordance with any directions in a scheme, set aside for meeting any such claims; but
(b)
the aggregate amount of any such claims actually made exceeds the relevant amount,
then if the Commissioner so directs, each of the donors in question shall be entitled only to such proportion of the relevant amount as the amount of his claim bears to the aggregate amount referred to in paragraph (b); and for this purpose, “relevant amount” means the amount of the sum so set aside after deduction of any expenses properly incurred by the governing board members of the charity in connection with claims relating to the donors’ gifts.
(7) For the purposes of this section, charitable purposes shall be deemed to fail where any difficulty in applying property to those purposes makes that property or the part not applicable cy-près available to be returned to the donors.
(8) In this section, except in so far as the context otherwise requires, references to a donor include persons claiming through or under the original donor, and references to property given include the property for the time being representing the property originally given or property derived from it.
(9) This section shall apply to property given for charitable purposes, notwithstanding that it was so given before 1st January 1995.
[Charities Act 1985 Ed., s. 12]