Press release

New phase of double defaulters class inquiry launched

Focusing on charities with income of £200,000 - £249,999.

From:
The Charity Commission
Published
3 March 2015

This news article was withdrawn on

No longer current.

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales, has today named further charities which are part of its class inquiry into double defaulting charities, and announced the next phase of the inquiry.

In September 2013 the regulator first launched the class inquiry into charities that have failed to file annual reports, accounts and returns for two or more years. The inquiry concentrated on those charities with a last known income of over £500,000.

A second phase of the inquiry was launched in November 2013, extending it to those charities with a last known income of £250,000. Due to the number of charities involved, the commission staggered this phase, adding 21 charities to the inquiry between November 2013 and May 2014, and a further 29 charities to the inquiry between May and November 2014.

Those added in to the inquiry in November 2014 are announced today:

In January 2015 the commission continued its robust regulatory approach to charities that are non-compliant with their filing obligations by launching a new phase of the inquiry, focusing on charities with a last known income of £200,000 to £249,999. Under this phase 12 charities were added to the inquiry between 26 January and 29 January 2015. Those charities are:

  • 1100333 - Dominion Bible Church
  • 286801 - Shree Sorathia Prajapati Community UK
  • 242190 - The A S Charitable Trust
  • 1000492 - The Barry Green Memorial Fund
  • 505157 - Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurudwara (Sikh Temple)
  • 1131902 - Truro Methodist Church
  • 1000312 - Orkney House Community Nursery
  • 1086363 - Ezras Yisroel Trust
  • 1126649 - Schools for Hope
  • 802730 - Shalom Employment Action Centre
  • 1024684 - The Redeemed Evangelical Mission
  • 1081317 - Qur’ani Murkuz Trust

As at the end of February 2015:

  • 74 charities in total had become part of the inquiry, of which 48 charities had as a result fully complied with their obligations, and therefore ceased to be part of the inquiry

This has resulted in over £48 million of funds being transparently accounted for on the register of charities, and outstanding accounting information being provided.

Michelle Russell, Director of Investigations, Monitoring and Enforcement at the Charity Commission, said:

As we continue to target defaulting charities, the message to trustees is simple; submitting this annual information is your legal responsibility, even if you delegate it to charity staff or your accountants to do. We regularly remind charities throughout the year about their approaching deadlines, and have recently launched a tool which allows third parties to submit accounts, making the process easier for those involved - so there is no excuse.

Our inquiry has already resulted in millions of charitable funds being publically accounted for on the register of charities, and we will continue to crack down on defaulters, showing that we will not tolerate charities that demonstrate contempt for the public and their donors by failing to meet reporting requirements.’

The commission will continue to publish inquiry reports into these charities on GOV.UK.

Ends

PR 13/15

Notes to editors

  1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales.
  2. Our mission is to be the independent registrar and regulator of charities in England and Wales, acting in the public’s interest, to ensure that: * charities know what they have to do * the public know what charities do * charities are held to account
  3. Section 173 of the Charities Act 2011 states that failure to submit annual documents to the commission is a criminal offence unless the person charged with submitting the documents took all reasonable steps for securing the filing of documents in time.
  4. Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 gives the Charity Commission the power to institute inquiries. The opening of an inquiry gives the commission access to a range of protective and remedial powers.
  5. 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.

Endnotes

  1. Filed last missing documents with the commission on 4 February 2015 and so the charity ceased to be part of the inquiry on 4 February 2015.
  2. Filed last missing documents with the commission on 23 December 2014 and so the charity ceased to be part of the inquiry on 23 December 2014.
  3. Filed last missing documents with the commission on 23 December 2014 and so the charity ceased to be part of the inquiry on 23 December 2014.
Published 3 March 2015

Related content