Tag: Charity Commission

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 3 July 2025.

The Charity Commission has concluded its inquiry into Island Health Trust.

In a report published today, the charity regulator concludes there was a significant misuse of funds at Island Health Trust, determining its spending on consultants and advisors excessive, unreasonable and disproportionate. It found former trustees failed to act in the charity’s best interests and did not operate exclusively within the charity’s purposes.

Island Health Trust was set up to promote the provision of primary healthcare, establish centres to provide healthcare within the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham, and provide grants for health-related education and facilities.

The Commission started monitoring the charity in 2017 following concerns raised about how charity funds were being used and potential private benefit to one or more trustees. The Commission had additional concerns which led it to escalate its engagement to a formal inquiry in November 2017.

Following an extensive investigation, the Commission has disqualified the charity’s former Chair, Suzanne Goodband, from serving as a trustee. The regulatory action was taken after the inquiry found the former Chair benefitted from £349,955 over a two-year period – amounting to 60% of the charity’s income. The disqualification is in place for 7 years and only applies to being a trustee.

The Commission is also critical of a decision taken by the charity to appoint a consultant known to the former Chair who was paid a total of £105,834.88 across two financial years.

Both of these payments were made for project management services after the charity was approached by a property developer in 2014. The proposal would have involved the charity selling a long lease to the developer, potentially generating more income for the charity. However, the benefits were speculative.

After being approached, the trustees spent funds on project management services to set out a new strategic direction for the charity. The Commission found the amount spent on a project with only speculative benefits to be excessive. The eventual benefits never materialised, and the proposed new direction of the charity did not stay within the purposes it was set up to achieve.

The inquiry also found the decision to enter into a contract with a private company owned by the former Chair was not in the charity’s best interest nor were conflicts of interest sufficiently managed.

Wider findings include a lack of oversight of the former Chair by other former trustees and breaching the charity’s governing document by paying two former trustees sums of £15,913 and £8,325. Charities must ensure they follow their governing document when it comes to paying trustees. These failures were a breach of trust and amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement.

During the inquiry, the Charity Commission appointed an interim manager to the charity to work alongside the current trustees. The interim manager was tasked with reviewing the concerns raised about the former trustees and supporting legal action by the current trustees which recovered £165,000 of charity funds.

Amy Spiller, Head of Investigations at the Charity Commission, said:

We as the regulator, and the public, rightly expect trustees to spend funds in a way that best achieves their charity’s purpose. While charities can enter into contracts with parties connected to the trustees, this should be cost effective to ensure funds ultimately help those in need, and the conflict of interest must be properly managed.

The actions by the former trustees of Island Health Trust fell short of these expectations and the excessive spending was unjustified.

I’m pleased following our intervention that funds have been recovered and a new trustee board can give the charity a fresh start.

The report, which includes the full findings, is available on GOV.UK.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society.
• The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the charity under s46 of the Charities Act 2011. A statutory inquiry is a legal power enabling the Commission to formally investigate matters of regulatory concern within a charity and to use protective powers for the benefit of the charity and its beneficiaries, assets, or reputation. An inquiry will investigate and establish the facts of the case so that the Commission can determine the extent of any misconduct and/or mismanagement; the extent of the risk to the charity, its work, property, beneficiaries, employees or volunteers; and decide what action is needed to resolve the concerns.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 4 June 2025.

A charity set up to support Palestinian refugees, particularly in Lebanon, has been issued with an Official Warning after posting “divisive and inflammatory” political material on social media.

The Commission has also issued an Order disqualifying one of the charity’s trustees from being a trustee and from holding a position with senior management functions, for a period of eight years.

Palestinian Refugee Project was registered in 2021, with objects to benefit the Palestinian diaspora in refugee camps through poverty relief, advancing education, relieving sickness and providing social welfare and leisure facilities.

The Charity Commission, the regulator of charities in England and Wales, began examining the charity in December 2023, after concerns were raised about its social media activity. The regulator also identified that all of the charity’s then trustees appeared to be related, with one serving as CEO, giving rise to concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

The trustees’ responses to the Commission’s questions raised further concerns, for example, that they lacked an understanding of their legal duties and responsibilities, including the importance of trustees acting and making decisions collectively.

The regulator established that, as a result of governance failings, Mrs Taghrid Al-Mawed-Layton – who was also acting as the charity’s voluntary CEO – had sole responsibility for the charity’s social media activity and used the charity’s platforms to promote political material, which was not in furtherance of the charity’s aims, and / or was divisive and inflammatory.

This included posts that could be interpreted as downplaying acts of terrorism, and which tried to raise support for a change to Israel’s recognition as a state. The charity failed to implement a formal social media policy and the remaining trustees lacked oversight in relation to its social media activity.

The Commission has disqualified Mrs Al-Mawed-Layton for eight years due to her role in mismanagement and / or misconduct of the charity, including social media activity on behalf of the charity. The Order disqualifies Mrs Al-Mawed-Layton from being a trustee and holding a senior management position in any charity.

Joshua Farbridge, Head of Compliance Visits and Inspections at the Charity Commission said:

We found a number of serious failings at Palestinian Refugee Project, which put the charity’s finances and reputation at risk. The charity, in effect, was being run by a single trustee who either did not understand, or failed to adhere to, basic trustee duties.

It’s important to stress that the Commission does not seek to encroach on any individual’s right to freedom of speech, expression, or beliefs. And we recognise that events in the Middle East over recent months and years have been deeply emotive and distressing.

However, trustees have clear legal obligations, including to act in line with the charity’s purpose and best interests, and act reasonably and prudently. Sadly, the good aims this charity set out to achieve was seriously undermined by the conduct and failings of its trustees.

As part of its case, the regulator also established that a failure to implement financial controls meant that funds were spent without proper authorisation or controls. The charity is overdue in filing its accounts for the years ending April 2023 and 2024.

The Charity Commission’s case involving the charity will remain ongoing allowing the regulator to follow up on the remedial actions set out in the Official Warning.

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society.
2. The Official Warning and disqualification order were issued as part of a regulatory compliance case into the charity, which remains ongoing. These cases allow us to gather evidence and make findings, and to help trustees address any failures or weaknesses that we might identify.
3. The Charity Commission maintains a searchable register of removed trustees.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 30 May 2025.

The Charity Commission has taken regulatory action against East London Mosque Trust for failing to responsibly manage charity funds.

The Commission has issued an Official Warning to East London Mosque Trust over an investment deal which resulted in the loss of £1 million. The regulator found trustees failed to have sufficient oversight of the charity’s activities and it has given the charity six months to take remedial action or possibly face further regulatory scrutiny.

The charity has existed in some form since 1910, and the mosque is considered one of London’s oldest. East London Mosque Trust was established to advance the Islamic faith by maintaining and managing a community centre and mosque, and provides a range of spiritual and community services.

The charity had invested £1 million in an NHS-approved supplier, expecting a 20% return in 6 months, but the supplier was forced into administration, resulting in a loss for the charity. The charity’s trustees reported the matter to the Commission in February 2023, which the regulator reviewed as part of wider engagement with the charity.

The Commission found the charity’s due diligence regarding the investment deal was not thorough enough. The regulator is also critical of the trustees’ lack of effective oversight and failure to properly scrutinise key documents concerning the investment. The regulator would expect any charity to conduct substantial checks on any investment which uses charitable funds, particularly one of this size.

The Commission had previously told the charity to ensure it had sufficient control over its funds and had warned of potential for further action. The trustees’ failure to act with reasonable care and skill, which contributed to the loss of the charity’s funds, is misconduct and/or mismanagement.

The Official Warning sets out that the charity is to ensure financial controls are put in place and that there is oversight of the charity’s funds to protect the charity’s assets going forward. The charity is now expected to conduct an independent review of the charity’s governance, reporting findings to the Commission. The regulator also expects the charity to do all it reasonably can to recover the lost funds.

Charity Commission Head of Compliance Visits and Inspections, Joshua Farbridge, said:

When people donate to a charity, they put their faith in those running it to manage those funds with care and in line with its aims. In this case, we found the trustees lacked the oversight we’d expect of such a large investment, nor did they ensure thorough due diligence had been undertaken.

The East London Mosque Trust has been advised on more than one occasion about having appropriate oversight of funds and so we have now issued a formal warning. We expect all charities to promptly act on steps provided in an Official Warning and will be monitoring this charity’s progress.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 20 May 2025.

The collapse of Kids Company was a matter of significant public, media and Parliamentary interest at the time, with ramifications for the wider charitable sector, notably on public trust and confidence in charities.

Today’s High Court judgment has upheld our finding of mismanagement of the charity’s finances and has confirmed that it was based on “ample evidence”. Furthermore, the judgment firmly rejected allegations we predetermined the outcome of the inquiry, stating the threshold for this was “not met in this case by a wide margin”.

The court has confirmed it was entirely reasonable for the Commission to have drawn independent regulatory conclusions on the demise of Kids Company, based on all the evidence available, in keeping with the role Parliament has set us.

The judgment notes we took care in the inquiry report to point out areas in which the charity’s trustees were acting within their duties and responsibilities, and where we found external criticism of the charity was unfounded. Our inquiry report stated clearly there was “no dishonesty, bad faith or inappropriate personal gain in the operation of the charity”.

While the court has dismissed the challenge on all but two grounds, and is clear that the overall findings of our report were not ‘irrational’, we acknowledge its finding that we made important errors in relation to two paragraphs of the report and will act to remedy this.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 16 May 2025.

The Charity Commission has issued the Islamic Centre of England Limited with a formal Order under Section 84 of the Charities Act, compelling the trustees to provide rigorous oversight of future speakers and online activity by the charity among other actions.

The Order has been issued in the context of a finding of misconduct and / or mismanagement during the regulator’s ongoing inquiry into the charity, to address the charity’s previous failures and to ensure that its governance is improved for the future.

The move follows the appointment of two additional trustees at the charity – a centre of Islamic worship in north London – and the conclusion of extensive work by an Interim Manager appointed by the Commission to take temporary control of essential aspects of the charity’s running and to review its governance.

The regulator opened an inquiry into the Islamic Centre of England in November 2022 to investigate serious governance concerns. The Commission appointed the Interim Manager in May 2023 and, in parallel with her work, continued to investigate concerns about the running of the charity.

Breaches of previous advice and Orders

The Commission has taken regulatory action during the inquiry, which remains ongoing, on wide-ranging governance issues and breaches of previous advice and orders. These included more recently failure to fully comply with the Order appointing the Interim Manager and failure to fully comply with directions. The Commission considers these, and a range of other past breaches, mismanagement and misconduct in the administration of the charity. The trustees currently dispute some of these legal findings.

Section 84 Order

The Section 84 Order requires the trustees to take a range of actions to improve the charity’s operations, governance and financial oversight, with clear deadlines for compliance. Among these are that the trustees are instructed to ensure that all religious services, speakers and events further the objects of the charity and are in its best interests, complying with due diligence processes put in place by the Interim Manager. Similarly, the trustees are required to ensure the charity’s website and social media content is exclusively in furtherance of the charity’s purposes and that trustees and staff document their decisions appropriately. The Commission will continue to closely monitor the trustees’ compliance with these and other actions in the Order, and can take further regulatory action if the trustees fail to do so.

Changes to trustees

During the course of the Commission’s inquiry a requirement was removed from the charity’s governing document for one trustee to be the official UK religious representative of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the occupant left this role. This addressed regulatory concerns about the charity’s failure to manage the conflicts of interest and apparent lack of independence this caused, which were at odds with charity law.

Separately, the Interim Manager had overseen the appointment of the two new trustees and taken steps to improve the charity’s management and governance, particularly regarding speakers and events. The Commission has now discharged the Interim Manager, Emma Moody, after she implemented specific improvements asked of her by the Commission, with further improvements to be delivered by the trustees under the Order.

Charity Commission Chief Executive, David Holdsworth, said:

The law requires, and the public expect, charities to operate exclusively for the public benefit. The vast majority of charities do so successfully, making a difference every day. As this case shows, when a charity fails to operate in line with its legal duties we will step in to take action. We now expect the trustees to take the required action directed by the Commission and will not hesitate to use further legal powers should that be necessary.

The Commission’s statutory inquiry is ongoing. It is the Commission’s practice to publish a report setting out its findings, regulatory actions and conclusions once an inquiry has concluded.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. A statutory inquiry is the Commission’s most serious form of investigation: How the Charity Commission investigates charities – GOV.UK and our policy on media reporting of current regulatory work is available on gov.uk: How the Charity Commission reports on its regulatory work – GOV.UK.
2. The statutory inquiry into Islamic Centre of England is ongoing. How long our inquiries take vary from case-to-case. When an inquiry concludes we publish a report that detail the issues looked at, what actions were undertaken and what the outcomes were. These are on gov.uk.
3. The Interim Manager’s duties included overseeing a successful process to recruit two new trustees to help to improve the charity’s governance, which is the focus of the Commission’s ongoing inquiry. There is information about the role of an Interim Manager on gov.uk.
4. The Commission previously issued a statement to tackle misinformation about why the Centre was temporarily closed. This issue pre-dated the appointment of an Interim Manager.
5. In legislation set by Parliament, a charity is an organisation set up with exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit and subject to the High Court’s jurisdiction. Please see further information about what is a charity. Once an organisation is registered as a charity it can only be removed in extremely limited circumstances such as where it is no longer operating. It is not open to the Commission to remove charitable status as a sanction.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 14 May 2025.

The Charity Commission has launched a statutory class inquiry into several charities and issued orders to temporarily restrict the issuing of cheques.

The charity regulator for England and Wales has launched a statutory class inquiry into a group of charities where there is evidence that they are issuing or have issued cheques, which are then exchanged for cash.

Following an unannounced visit by HMRC to a company in Hackney, 105 charities were found to have cashed cheques with it to a value of £22 million between December 2021 and March 2023.

The 10 charities initially under inquiry are: Inspirations (1109974), Beis Aharon Charitable Trust Limited (1010420), Mifal Hachesed Vehatzedokoh (1139320), Friend of Beis Soroh Schneirer (1153647), One Heart – Lev Echod (1167227), Yad Vochessed Association Limited (1112797), Friends of Beis Chinuch Lebonos Trust (1153187), Chasdei Dov Trust (1181900), Friends of Mercaz Hatorah Belz Macnivka (1126075), The Rehabilitation Trust (288622).

These 10 charities have been prioritised following an assessment of a range of factors, including the number of cheques issued, and total value of cheques cashed. The Commission expects to extend the number of charities under investigation over time.

Using powers available to the Commission during an inquiry, the regulator will determine the facts around how these charities have transferred funds. It will also investigate how trustees had oversight of what happened to funds exchanged for the cheques, and if this cash has been used properly to support what the charities were set up to do. The Commission will seek to establish how trustees determined that these financial transactions were in their charity’s best interests.

The regulator has issued an immediate order to temporarily stop any of the charities under inquiry from issuing cheques without its prior consent.

The scope of the inquiry may also be extended if additional regulatory issues emerge during the Commission’s investigation.

Notes to editors:

1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society. Find out more: About us – The Charity Commission – GOV.UK
2. A statutory inquiry is a legal power enabling the Commission to formally investigate matters of regulatory concern within a charity, or class of charities and to use protective powers for the benefit of the charity and its beneficiaries, assets, or reputation. An inquiry will investigate and establish the facts of the case so that the Commission can determine the extent of any misconduct and/or mismanagement; the extent of the risk to the charity, its work, property, beneficiaries, employees or volunteers; and decide what action is needed to resolve the concerns.
3. Under section 76(3)(f) of the Charities Act 2011, the regulator has issued a restricted transactions order which will prohibit the issuing of cheques without the Commission’s written consent.
4. The Commission’s guidance on internal financial controls can be found via this link: Internal financial controls for charities: protect your charity from fraud and loss (CC8)  – GOV.UK. It makes clear that pre-signed blank cheques should be prohibited under charities’ financial control policies.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 7 April 2025.

The Charity Commission has banned trustees of The Saint George Educational Trust after a statutory inquiry found significant financial mismanagement.

The charity, which is based in Hampshire, was registered in 1994 to carry out activities that advance the Catholic religion and education about the faith.

However, during the Commission’s inquiry, the regulator discovered that the charity’s bank account was being used as a conduit for money from unknown sources, and the charity was wrongly claiming Gift Aid on these funds. Some charitable assets were also being held as gold bullion by individuals unconnected to the charity.

The charity’s website and social media were also found to have posted content linked to the leader of a far-right political group, not in furtherance of its charitable purposes, as well as an Islamist terrorist organisation.

Subsequently, the Commission removed the trustees from the charity and has appointed Interim Managers, who will settle outstanding debts and redistribute any remaining charitable funds to a charity with similar charitable purposes before winding up the organisation.

The inquiry was opened in October 2022 after the regulator identified concerns that the charity was engaging in activities, including online content, that did not appear to further its religious purposes.

Findings

The inquiry has found significant governance failings, financial mismanagement, and unacceptable political activity at the charity, including:

1. The charity’s chair had allowed the charity’s bank account to receive ‘donations’ from unknown sources, which were then transferred to entities unknown to the trustees.
2. The trustees then successfully claimed, from HMRC, Gift Aid in the sum of £80,455.75 on those funds coming into the charity. The charity retained 20% of the Gift Aid element with the remainder being transferred to accounts unknown to the trustees.  These claims were later disallowed by HMRC, and the Commission recovered the total sum of £146,166.14 (including interest and a penalty) from the charity.
3. The inquiry discovered more than £30,000 of charity assets had been converted into gold bullion held by individuals with no formal connection to the charity. It also found items described as being of religious significance, such as rare books, belonging to the charity, said to have a value in the £10,000s, were in a storage unit that was also not in the charity’s possession.
4. The inquiry found that the trustees’ actions demonstrated a complete failure in their duty to act in the charity’s best interests. There was no evidence that they conducted any checks on the entities transferring funds to the charity’s bank account, nor did they independently assess how the money was spent.
5. The charity’s website and social media accounts contained content linked to far-right activities and a post likely to be interpreted as support for Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Regulatory action

Following the opening of its inquiry, the Commission took action to freeze over half a million pounds of the charity’s funds and ensure inappropriate content was removed from the charity’s website and social media.

With the assistance of the police, gold bullion was recovered and sold, which enabled the Commission to make orders to the police and bank, which held funds on behalf of the charity, and to repay HMRC £146,166.14 for Gift Aid wrongly obtained by the charity.

In January 2025, the trustees at that time were removed from the charity as trustees. This means that they are disqualified from serving as trustees or holding any position with senior management function in relation to any charity in England and Wales.

The Commission appointed Interim Managers to take control of the running of the charity, who secured the items held in storage, and are working to identify the charity’s liabilities in preparation for winding up and dissolution. Any remaining funds will be distributed to other Catholic charities.

Charity Commission Chief Executive, David Holdsworth, said:

The generous British public can be reassured that deliberate abuse of charity is rare and as this case shows when it does occur, we act swiftly and robustly.

This was a flagrant abuse of charity and a betrayal of the public’s trust. The Commission’s actions during this ongoing inquiry mean that all the public money falsely claimed from HMRC has been repaid and we have ensured that the trustees can’t run a charity again.

Charity Commission Head of Compliance Visits and Inspections, Joshua Farbridge, said:

I have no doubt that the public will be shocked by the inquiry’s findings. The charity was used to promote inappropriate and harmful views, express support for a proscribed terrorist organisation, and to make improper Gift Aid claims. While what transpired may seem more suited to fiction, this is, regrettably, all too real.

The Commission has acted to protect the charity’s remaining assets, and the Interim Managers will work towards winding up and dissolving it.”

The full report detailing the findings of the inquiry will be published following the completion of the Interim Managers’ work in winding up and dissolving the charity.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its ambition is to be an expert regulator that is fair, balanced, and independent so that charity can thrive. This ambition will help to create and sustain an environment where charities further build public trust and ultimately fulfil their essential role in enhancing lives and strengthening society.
2. On 7 October 2022, the Commission opened a statutory inquiry into The Saint George Educational Trust under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 (the ‘Act’).
3. A statutory inquiry is a legal power enabling the Commission to formally investigate matters of regulatory concern within a charity and to use protective powers for the benefit of the charity and its beneficiaries, assets, or reputation. An inquiry investigates and establishes the facts of the case so that the Commission can determine the extent of any misconduct and/or mismanagement; the extent of the risk to the charity, its work, property, beneficiaries, employees or volunteers; and decide what action is needed to resolve the concerns.
4. On 25 July 2022, the charity became part of the Commission’s Statutory Class Inquiry, having failed to submit financial information to the Commission for two or more years over a 5-year period. The charity ceased to be part of the Class Inquiry when the scale of concerns identified led to the opening of a separate inquiry, which remains ongoing.
5. On 16 January 2025, the inquiry made an Order under section 76(3)(g) of the Act to appoint Tom Murdoch and Tony Pidgeon of Stone King LLP to act as Interim Managers for the charity.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 5 September 2024.

The Charity Commission has disqualified two former trustees of Burke’s Peerage Foundation as part of its statutory inquiry into the charity, which has today concluded with the publication of an official report.

The charity was registered in 2014 with aims to promote education in genealogy and personal heritage. It was removed from the charity register on 2 August 2023 as it ceased to operate.

Matters under investigation

The Commission launched its inquiry in February 2022, after identifying serious concerns during a separate inquiry into The Mahfouz Foundation, which had links with Burke’s Peerage Foundation.

The inquiry was opened to determine the extent to which the trustees were complying with their legal duties in the way they administered and managed the charity, including compliance with legal obligations around the preparation and filing of annual accounts and annual returns.

Findings of the inquiry

In its inquiry report, the Commission concludes that William Bortrick and Mark Ayre were responsible for misconduct and / or mismanagement. The regulator has concluded that that they failed to manage conflicts of interest, misapplied charity funds, received unauthorised personal benefit and failed to submit accurate annual returns to the regulator.

The inquiry found that the trustees had purchased items that did not further the charity’s purposes, including antique furniture, paintings and statues. In one instance, a desk and bookcase were bought for £16,000 using the charity’s funds and were then kept and used at Mr Bortrick’s home.

The inquiry found the charity paid for services that benefited a company linked to both of the trustees. For example, it paid for insurance which would cover legal fees to protect the name of Burke’s Peerage – a guide to the genealogy and heraldry of historical families which is owned by a private company belonging to one of the trustees.

Regulatory action

As a result of the Commission’s interventions:

• on 16 February 2024, Mr Bortrick and Mr Ayre were disqualified from being trustees or senior managers at any charity for 12 years
• as part of its inquiry, the Commission recovered £113,000 of misapplied charitable funds from the trustees
• the charity was removed from the register on 2 August 2023 and its remaining funds (£121,455) were passed to another charity which will use the monies in line with the objects of Burke’s Peerage Foundation

Angela Ascroft, Critical Case Lead at the Charity Commission, said:

“This report sets out very serious findings.

Throughout the inquiry, Mr Bortrick and Mr Ayre provided contradictory statements and proved to be unreliable witnesses. They also failed in their most basic duty to act in the charity’s best interests and are responsible for serious misconduct and / or mismanagement.

The Commission’s intervention means that, whilst disqualified, they can no longer be trustees or senior managers in charities. Our intervention also ensured that misapplied funds of more than £100,000 have been repaid and transferred to another charity.

The inquiry report, published on GOV.UK, sets out the Commission’s full findings and conclusions.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 12 May 2023.

The Charity Commission launches inquiry into Asia Pacific Childrens Fund over concerns about money spent overseas and sent to related parties.

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Asia Pacific Childrens Fund to examine concerns about the trustees’ administration and management of the charity, including around payments to connected parties and overseas expenditure.

The charity was established in 2008 to aid those in poverty, particularly in Asia. It is based in London but funds an orphanage in Bangladesh.

The Commission first engaged with the charity in 2021 on a proactive basis over concerns around international cash couriering. During compliance visits to the charity, the regulator identified a number of further concerns which represented breaches of the charity’s governing document and charity law.

The Commission used its powers to obtain and analyse the charity’s bank statements and found payments to private companies linked to some of the charity’s trustees, which the trustees have been unable to sufficiently explain.

As part of its purposes, the charity states that it funds an orphanage in Bangladesh, and this is where most of its money goes. However, the Commission is concerned that the trustees cannot fully account for all its expenditure to this end, or clearly explain how the orphanage and the funds it receives are managed.

These concerns, exacerbated by a lack of documentary evidence and the charity’s often late statutory annual returns, are evidence of misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity. Therefore, an inquiry was opened on 3 April 2023. It will examine the following regulatory issues:

• the administration, governance and management of the charity by the trustees
• conflicts of interest and or loyalty and related party payments
• financial controls and management of the charity and whether its funds have been properly expended solely for the exclusive charitable purposes and can be accounted for
• whether or not the trustees have complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustee under charity law

The Commission may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional regulatory issues emerge.

It is the Commission’s policy to publish a report upon concluding an inquiry to detail its findings, conclusions, and any regulatory action taken.

The press release issued by the Charity Commission on 10 May 2023.

The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to a London-based religious charity.

The Charity Commission has today announced it has appointed an interim manager to the Islamic Centre of England.

The charity has been the subject of a statutory inquiry by the regulator since November 2022. The inquiry was opened due to serious governance concerns and follows extensive engagement in recent years which includes issuing the charity with an Official Warning.

Due to the trustees’ failure to comply with their legal duties and responsibilities and their failure to protect the charity’s assets, the Commission appointed an interim manager to the charity on the 4th May 2023. Emma Moody of Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP, the appointed interim manager, will have all the powers and duties of the charity’s trustees, and is appointed to the exclusion of the current trustees. As part of the appointment, she will conduct a review of the charity’s governance and administration and make recommendations to the Commission based on her findings.

Charity Commission Chair, Orlando Fraser KC, said:

We need to act robustly where serious concerns about a charity exist, so that the public, and the charity sector itself, can have confidence in what it means to have charitable status.

The investigators leading this inquiry are assessing all information thoroughly. The appointment of an interim manager will help the Commission ensure the charity’s governance is restored and is improved to a better standard.

The Islamic Centre of England has charitable purposes which include advancing the religion of Islam and promoting education and welfare among the Muslim community.

The Commission’s inquiry remains ongoing. It is the Commission’s policy to publish a report upon concluding an inquiry to detail its findings, conclusions, and any regulatory action taken.