A 37-year-old interfaith charity has said it is now preparing for “imminent closure” as the government considers withdrawing funding over concerns regarding one of its trustees.
In a letter seen by Civil Society, levelling up secretary Michael Gove wrote to Inter Faith Network (IFN) last month stating that he was “minded to withdraw” £155,000 provisionally awarded to the IFN for the financial year 2023-24.
Gove said his concerns were due to the charity appointing a trustee connected to the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), with which government has a long-standing policy of non-engagement.
Founded in 1987, IFN has received government funding since 2001, with 62% of its income coming from one government grant in 2022.
The charity said in a statement that “the board of the Inter Faith Network for the UK took, with great regret, an in-principle decision to move towards closure of the organisation” on 7 February.
“Continued uncertainty regarding government funding to the Inter Faith Network has had a hugely damaging effect on the charity,” it said.
“Continuing to operate without the £155,000 offered over six months ago has not proven possible, despite other fundraising efforts.”
A spokesperson for Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DHLUC) told Civil Society that all government-funded organisations are “subject to internal finance and due diligence processes”.
Background
Former deputy secretary general of MCB Hassan Joudi was appointed as a trustee of IFN on 13 July 2023.
The government has had a long-standing policy of non-engagement with the MCB since 2009 after another of its former deputy secretary generals, Daud Abdullah, signed a declaration it interpreted as “advocating attacks on the Royal Navy”, according to Guardian coverage.
On the MCB website, it states that the umbrella body did not support or sign the declaration and that the connected staff member did so in a personal capacity.
In his letter, Gove wrote that the appointment of an MCB trustee to the board of the IFN “poses a reputational risk to government”.
IFN said in a response published on its website that if the charity were to expel this member “division would certainly be sown”.
The Telegraph reported in December that DHLUC officials shared concerns that IFN should have called out the 7 October attack in Israel by Hamas, in which 1,200 people were killed.
In an unpublished letter to the Telegraph’s editor responding to this, IFN’s co-chairs said: “As a UK charity whose purposes concern inter faith relations in the UK, and which must comply with the Charity Commission’s guidance on ‘political’ campaigning, IFN cannot make a simple statement of that kind.”
A Charity Commission spokesperson said: “We can confirm that, in line with our guidance, the Inter Faith Network has filed a serious incident report relating to the likelihood that it will need to close due to funding issues.”
Editor’s note: A comment from the Charity Commission was added to this article on 19 February
