Charity Commission announces statutory inquiry into Islamic Education Centre and Mosque
The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the Sunderland-based charity.
The Charity Commission has announced that it has opened a statutory inquiry into the Islamic Education Centre and Mosque (1150827) in Sunderland. The inquiry has been opened due to regulatory concerns that there is, or has been, misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.
The Commission has previously engaged with the charity as part of a ‘class inquiry’ examining ‘double defaulters’, charities that have failed to file the legally required financial information for two or more consecutive years.
As part of the class inquiry the Commission ordered the Islamic Education Centre and Mosque to submit all outstanding accounting information by July 2020. Despite issuing frequent reminders this deadline was not met. The relevant accounting information was eventually filed on December 2021. The Commission is currently reviewing these submissions.
The charity’s failure to submit the necessary accounting documents on time has been a repeated pattern of behaviour. Prior to its submission last December, the charity had gone three years without filing the legally required financial information. This is of serious concern in relation to the trustees’ duty to be accountable and transparent to the public.
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;
- The extent to which any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity during the inquiry were a result of misconduct and/or mismanagement by the trustees;
- Failure to comply with their statutory reporting duties including the timely submission of the charity’s annual reports and accounts to the Commission;
- Failure to comply with an order of the Commission under section 84.
The Commission may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional issues emerge.
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 are available on GOV.UK.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- The inquiry has been opened under Section 46 of the Charities Act 2011.
- The Charity Commission is the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. Its purpose is to ensure charity can thrive and inspire trust so that people can improve lives and strengthen society
- The Commission continues with its proactive work to target charities failing to submit accounting information within statutory deadlines. This work has ensured that compliance issues in 125 charities resulting in over £51 million of charity income now being accounted for.
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