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Hind cites 'hair-raising' cases of non-compliance
29.09.2008

?Hair-raising examples? of charity malpractice have been uncovered by the Charity Commission in its investigations on compliance, according to Charity Commission chief executive Andrew Hind.

In his speech at last week?s Charity Accountants? Conference, Hind (pictured) urged trustees to ?keep their finger on the pulse? and make sure their finances were in order.

The Commission?s first annual review on its compliance work, Charities Back on Track, revealed that the regulator carried out 799 assessments into public concerns over 2007/2008. It took 170 new cases forward and opened 19 formal statutory inquiries. The Commission?s compliance work protected over £16m of charity assets.

The report also included case studies that named charities, along with advice on how to prevent malpractice.

Beneficiaries at risk It found key trends were problems with accounting and reporting, governance, and vulnerable beneficiaries.

Hind said some cases involving vulnerable children and young people were ?beyond my belief?. He cited one investigation in which a person found sexually abusing children was jailed for 21 years.

?There is a worrying theme of charities not taking serious efforts to safeguard vulnerable beneficiaries. There are too many examples of people who come into charities as volunteers and abuse,? he said.

The Commission published 42 closed inquiry reports online over the past two years.

Among these, nine investigations involved vulnerable beneficiaries. There were also 60 instances of trustee and governance issues and 19 accounting issues.

Five inquiries kept under wraps Five inquiries, however, were not made public. Hind said it would not have been in the public interest to publish the cases. ?It would have been more damaging to the charity sector,? he said, ?or would undermine the work of other regulation authorities.?

Vibeka Mair, Professional Fundraising Magazine 24 September 2008

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