New charity investigation: Mesifta Talmudical College
The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Mesifta Talmudical College, registered charity number 312905.
The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has opened a statutory inquiry into Mesifta Talmudical College, registered charity number 312905. The inquiry was opened on 30 September 2016.
The charity is based in London and has objects to promote Jewish religious education and learning. Until recently, it was part of the Commission’s class inquiry into charities that have defaulted on 2 or more occasions on their legal obligations to submit annual accounting information to the regulator. On 10 December 2015 the charity ceased to be part of the class inquiry after it had submitted the outstanding accounting documents. The inquiry report was published by the regulator on 16 January 2016.
Despite the regulator’s recent enforcement action to ensure the trustees were compliant, the charity failed again to submit its annual accounts, report and returns for the latest financial year which were due by 31 July 2016. The Commission has already exercised its statutory powers to direct the trustees to prepare and submit the information and an explanation for the repeated default, so this can be considered before further action by the regulator is considered.
The inquiry will examine:
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the administration of the charity by the trustees, particularly in relation to whether or not the trustees had complied with and fulfilled their duties and responsibilities as trustees under charity law
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the failure of the trustees to fulfill their statutory duty to submit annual accounts, report and annual return for the financial year ending 30 September 2015
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the financial management of the charity to determine whether the trustees have failed to properly manage the charity’s funds and therefore, have put the charity’s funds at risk
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the reasons why the trustees have persistently failed to comply with the deadlines for filing the charity’s annual accounts, reports and annual returns by the due date over 5 consecutive financial years from 2011 to 2015
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 79/16
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.
- The Commission’s decision to announce the opening of a statutory inquiry is based on whether it is in the public interest to do so and with consideration of our objective to increase public trust and confidence in charities.
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