The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Tracey Crouch)
I thank the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Jim Fitzpatrick) for bringing forward this debate, and for his informative and passionate speech. It is always good to see hon. Members and local councillors across the political spectrum working together to stand up for their communities and hold charities to account.
Based on information brought forward by the hon. Gentleman and others last year, the Charity Commission engaged with Island Health Trust. That engagement raised serious regulatory concerns, and consequently the commission opened a statutory inquiry in November 2017. The statutory inquiry into the Island Health Trust is live and ongoing. Therefore, neither I nor the Charity Commission can comment on the details of the investigation, so as not to prejudice its outcome. However, I reassure the hon. Gentleman that the inquiry remains a priority for the commission, and that it aims to conclude the inquiry as soon as possible.
The purpose of an inquiry is to examine relevant issues in detail; investigate and establish the facts so that the regulator can ascertain whether there has been mismanagement and/or misconduct; establish the extent of any risk to the charity’s property, beneficiaries or work; and decide what action needs to be taken to resolve the serious concerns, if necessary using the Charity Commission’s investigative, protective and remedial powers. The commission published the scope of the inquiry and is clear that it examined the extent to which the trustees had prudently managed the charity’s financial resources since April 2012. The Charity Commission has no powers of criminal prosecution, so if it does uncover evidence of criminal offences, it passes this evidence to the police for investigation.
The collective responsibility for ensuring that a charity is properly run rests with its trustees. They all have a legal duty to ensure that the charity lawfully fulfils its purposes and does so in the best interests of its beneficiaries. A charity’s trustees should be a strong first line of defence against misconduct or mismanagement. It is important that current or former trustees co-operate fully if the Charity Commission requests information from them as part of their investigation. The commission has said that it welcomes the commitments offered by a trustee and former trustee in this case. As persons responsible for the management and administration of the charity, the trustees referred to by the hon. Gentleman cannot be regarded as whistleblowers, but the commission’s inquiry will need to understand their involvement in decision making at the time and consider whether they properly fulfilled their legal duties to the charity. The commission has confirmed that it will be speaking to Mr Molyneaux in due course.
The investigation into Island Health Trust is progressing and the inquiry remains a priority for the commission, but it needs to be considered alongside the commission’s other statutory inquiries and other functions. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will understand that the number of statutory inquiries opened by the commission has tripled since 2015 and applications to register charities have grown by 40% over the past four years. I know that hon. Members will also appreciate that since February the commission has had to divert significant resources to dealing with the sudden increase in serious incident reports regarding safeguarding concerns. That is a significant volume of work for a small non-ministerial department with fewer than 300 staff. However, in January the Government announced an additional £5 million a year for the commission’s baseline funding from April this year in recognition of those pressures.
I am sorry that I cannot go into the specific details of this case, which are rightly a matter for the independent regulator. I do believe, however, that the commission has the necessary powers to properly investigate and take action in this case. I politely and humbly urge the hon. Gentleman to remain patient while the Charity Commission conducts its statutory inquiry. Once again, I thank him for raising this important issue and helping local residents to hold a local charity to account. I assure him that all parties are working to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible.
Question put and agreed to.