New charity investigation: Kingdom Life Ministries
The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Kingdom Life Ministries, registered charity number 1109664.
The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Kingdom Life Ministries, registered charity number 1109664. The inquiry was opened on 9 June 2017.
The charity’s objects include providing a place of worship for those of Christian faith and to encourage and promote education. The charity’s last reported income was £870,411.
On the 26 July 2016 the charity was included in a class inquiry which was opened by the Commission to examine charities that had repeatedly defaulted on their accounting obligations. The charity had failed to submit accounting information required for the financial years ending 31 May 2014 and 2015 and the trustees were therefore instructed to submit the overdue accounting information.
The charity submitted the outstanding documents to the Commission in April 2017 and, as a result, ceased to be a part of the class inquiry. However, despite receiving regulatory advice and being repeatedly reminded to meet their legal duties, the trustees again failed to file the statutory accounting information for financial year ending 2016 on time.
The trustees have persistently failed to file their accounting documents on time for three consecutive years, and have shown repeated evidence of mismanagement in the administration of the charity and non-compliance with the Commission. Having been provided with regulatory advice and guidance, it is of serious regulatory concern to the Commission that the charity has continued to default on its statutory duties.
To address these concerns, the inquiry will examine the following regulatory issues:
- the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of their administration, governance and management of the charity, and in particular, their compliance with legal obligations for the preparation and filing of the charity’s accounts and other information or returns.
- the extent to which the trustees have complied with previously issued regulatory guidance.
The Commission would like to remind charity trustees that, if their charity’s gross income exceeds £25,000, they have a legal obligation to submit a copy of their annual report and accounts to the Commission within 10 months of the charity’s financial year end. Failure to do this is a criminal offence under section 173(1) of the Charities Act 2011.
It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were. Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK.
The charity’s details can be viewed on the Commission’s online charity search tool.
Ends
PR 61/17
Notes to Editors
- The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work, see our annual report.
- Search for charities on our online register.
- Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the Commission access to a range of investigative, protective and remedial legal powers.
Press office
Email pressenquiries@charitycommission.gov.uk
Out of hours press office contact number: 07785 748787