A Christian education charity has been given an official warning over its failure to sufficiently separate its activities from those of a linked non-charitable body.
The Charity Commission issued the warning to the National Council for Christian Standards in Society (NCCSS) on Monday after previously advising it to clearly divide its charitable work from the political lobbying activities of Christian Voice.
Its advice included removing “Christian Voice” on the commission’s register as the charity’s own working name, which remains unchanged.
The regulator said it has now issued an official warning as NCCSS’s trustees did not take sufficient steps to act on its advice.
In its warning, the commission instructs the charity’s trustees to amend “its ambiguous purposes” to ensure they are exclusively charitable and to act on the regulator’s previous advice.
It warns the trustees that action must be taken “to rectify the misconduct and/or mismanagement” and that failing to take remedial steps now could result in the charity facing further regulatory action.
The Wales-based charity was founded in 1986 and most recently recorded an income of £80,400 in 2022.
‘This intervention should serve as a reminder for all trustees’
Tracy Howarth, assistant director for casework at the commission, said: “It’s clear this charity has not taken our previous advice on board and so we have issued an official warning with the expectation that changes are made at pace.
“When carrying out any activity, trustees must consider how it helps meet their charitable purposes and if they are acting within charity law. We, and the public, expect this of charities as a minimum.
“This intervention should serve as a reminder for all trustees to take any advice and guidance they receive from us seriously.
“As regulator, we issue guidance to help trustees ensure their charity is run well to deliver for beneficiaries. If we step in, we’re giving advice to help avoid further regulatory action.”
Civil Society has asked NCCSS to comment.
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