Over £50 million in charitable funds accounted for after action by regulator
Commission reports on its ongoing class inquiry into charities that failed to file accounts for the period 2018/19
The Charity Commission has today published the results of its pre-inquiry and class inquiry work into charities that failed to file financial information with the regulator for 2 or more years in the last 5 years.
The ‘double defaulter’ inquiry has resulted in a total of £51,615,231 of charitable income being accounted for, and 97 charities addressing their failure to file and submit their outstanding annual documents.
The inquiry used information gathering powers 51 times to obtain bank records and financial information of the charities. In 2 cases, the inquiry identified wider governance concerns and opened separate inquiries.
Investigators provided charities with regulatory advice and guidance about the trustees’ legal duties to file important financial information. The exercise revealed 28 charities had ceased to exist or do not operate, and have therefore been removed from the register of charities.
Amy Spiller, Head of Investigations Team at the Charity Commission said:
I am pleased that our intervention has resulted in charities putting right their default, and that we have been able to account for significant sums which charities can use to do good and make people’s lives better.
Generous donors have a right to be able to see clearly how their money is being spent, and be assured that they are going to their intended causes. This inquiry should serve as a reminder to all charities of the need to comply with their important legal duties, or inform us if they are no longer operating.
We are committed to informing public choice about charities. Charities must lead the way here and evidence how they are delivering on their charitable mission and purpose through financial information that they make available. This is vital if charities are to meet legitimate public expectations around transparency and accountability.
The full report is available on GOV.UK.
Ends
Notes to editors:
- All registered charities must provide financial information annually to the Charity Commission. More information on the requirements for different charities are set out in the report.
- The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work read the about us page on GOV.UK.
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