The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a care home charity after it repeatedly failed to file its accounts.
Queen Alexandra Cottage Homes, which provides accommodation and support to older people in East Sussex, has not filed its annual accounting information for four years.
According to the Commission’s data, the charity’s accounts for the year to March 2019 are overdue by 1,357 days, with those for the subsequent three years also not filed.
The charity has filed some annual returns, most recently for the financial year ending March 2021, which showed a total income of £2.14m and an expenditure of £2.31m.
Inquiry escalated
In July 2022, the Commission placed the charity into a double defaulter class inquiry in which charities in default of their legal duty to file their annual reports, accounts, and returns for two or more years in the last five years are investigated.
The Commission states that despite it issuing a formal order and continued assurances that the situation would be remedied in a timely manner, the charity has failed to submit any of its outstanding accounts.
It has therefore escalated its engagement to a separate inquiry which was opened on 26 July and will examine the extent to which the trustees have and are complying with their legal duties.
The inquiry will also look at the financial management of the charity and the extent to which any failings or weaknesses in the administration, governance and management of the charity were the result of misconduct or mismanagement by the trustees.
The Commission may also extend the scope of the inquiry if additional regulatory issues emerge.
Charity: 2019 audit imminent
Peter Buckland, general manager of Queen Alexandra Cottage Homes, said: “The charity has fully engaged with the Charity Commission inquiry and prior to this has kept the Commission fully appraised at all times of the issues that it has faced in relation to the outstanding audits.
“The charity has worked extremely hard with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and we are currently waiting for the 2019 audit to be completed (which is imminent) and for a timetable to be agreed for the remaining audits to be completed in a timely manner.
“During the inquiry the charity expressed its concern about the potential damage that any negative publicity may have in enabling the organisation to continue its objectives and any subsequent impact this may have on our well-established reputation for providing high quality nursing care and sheltered accommodation.”
He added: “Many of the issues that the charity has faced have been beyond its control however we are fully confident that these will soon be resolved and that the outstanding audits will be submitted without undue delay.”
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