The Charities Act 2006 necessitated a number of changes to the structure of the university's student bodies that went into effect in 2011. Previously exempt charities, Student Unions were now to be regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. The College JCRs were forced to decide whether to remain independent and become registered charities or to become part of the university. The university set up the "Durham Student Organisations Framework" for those JCRs (from the Maintained Colleges) becoming part of the university. Most eligible JCRs, along with Team Durham (previously the Durham University Athletics Union) and some other University-wide student bodies, chose to join this framework. Durham Students Union, the JCRs of Grey, St Cuthbert's and Trevelyan, and the Ustinov GCR, became independent charities on 1 August 2011. Trevelyan JCR has since joined the framework (on 1 January 2014) and ceased to be an independent charity. St John's JCR also chose to become an independent charity rather than be merged with the college. The Act also removed exempt charity status from the colleges and halls in the universities of Cambridge and Durham and the colleges in the University of Oxford. This forced the St John's College, St Chad's College, and Ushaw College to become registered charities (the Maintained Colleges, being legally incorporated into the university and thus not having separate charitable status, were not affected).
