The Charity Commission has said it is “not clear” whether the True and Fair Foundation has followed instructions to improve its governance, and has contacted the charity for clarification.
But Gina Miller, founder and trustee, said the Commission’s statement was “misleading” and that all the governance issues relating to the charity had been resolved.
The regulator issued the charity with formal regulatory advice on “required changes to current governance arrangements” in 2016. It had opened a compliance case following a number of complaints about the foundation, which themselves had come after the foundation had published critical reports about the charity sector.
At that time Miller said the Commission had been concerned that there was a potential conflict of interest for its founders Alan and Gina Miller to both be trustees given that they are husband and wife.
The Commission’s public register still records Alan and Gina Miller as the foundation's only two trustees. Documents filed with Companies House indicate that the foundation has not had a third trustee since Michael Triff stepped down in 2011.
Last week the Commission told Civil Society News: “It is not clear from our records whether the True and Fair Foundation has fully implemented the governance requirements of its governing document, as it was advised it must do in July 2016. We have contacted the charity for clarification on this issue.
“If you are a charity trustee, ensuring your charity’s basic governance is up to scratch is a vital first step to begin to meet the high standards that the public expect.”
A spokesman for NCVO said charities should the Commission's advice promptly.
He said: "It’s important for the sector’s reputation that all charities work to high standards of governance, and it’s absolutely essential that the tiny minority of charities which the Charity Commission finds it needs to give formal advice to follow it immediately."
'Misleading'
But Miller said the Commission’s statement is “completely misleading”.
She shared an email with Civil Society News from December 2017 where the Commission wrote to the charity’s lawyers confirming that the charity “was not in breach of its objects in commissioning and publishing a report directed to the purpose of promote the efficiency and effectiveness of charities”.
Miller added that: “All governance issues were resolved although I still find it strange that their one issue was that as husband and wife, Alan and I could not both be trustees or co-chairs, on a family charitable foundation.”
She said that a third trustee is a corporate trustee, but declined to name the corporate trustee. She also said the foundation is in the process of preparing to file its latest set of accounts and annual return.
“The query the Charity Commission raised when we met was the fact that two of the three trustees were husband and wife, as they felt it could be deemed that there is a conflict of interest. Their guidance was that charities like ours with three trustees should consider the third being a corporate trustee, to ensure no conflict of interest/an imbalance in the decision making process.
“Whilst we do not experience conflicts of interest, we did think this was a practical and pragmatic suggestion.”
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