Civil Society Organisations, United Kingdom, 1997-2023: Secure Access

This dataset provides descriptive information on UK civil society organisations that exist (or have existed since 1997) as formally constituted entities taking a variety of legal forms. Researchers and commentators use a range of terms; the 'third sector', 'civil society', the 'voluntary sector' and 'social enterprise' are examples for this population of entities, or subsets thereof. In broadly accepted international terminology relating to the third sector, attention focuses on institutions which are: non-profit; do not distribute surpluses to external stakeholders; private; independent of government; and have a significant element of voluntary action in their governance and activities. Data on these organisations are available through sector regulators, such as the financial conduct authority, or the various regulators of charities, as well as through Companies House. Data includes date of registration and dissolution and acronyms denoting the type of organisation. The types of entity considered are: registered charities; charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs); Community Interest Companies (CICs); Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLGs); and Registered Societies. The data also contains an ENTREF variable, which when linked to the Business Structure Database (BSD) will add employment, turnover and payroll information not available from any other source. It will therefore provide a novel source of data for analysts of the pattern, growth and change in the distribution of a wider range of third sector organisations than has been possible to date. New Edition Note For the second edition (February 2026), the data and documentation have been updated to version three (26-09-2025).