A grantmaking body that was under investigation by the Charity Commission has been removed from its register, the regulator has announced.
The Macbeth Memorial Trust was removed from the register last month, the Commission said, four months after the Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the charity.
In December, the charity’s trustees decided to close the organisation and distributed its remaining funds to three charities.
The trustees applied to remove the charity from the register in January and the Commission did so on 6 March 2023.
The Commission has now closed its inquiry and published findings, which state that the charity’s trustees did not take any steps to provide accounting information, appoint new trustees or wind the charity up by the deadlines provided in an official warning from the regulator.
Plan to close since 2020
According to the regulator, the charity originally planned to close in 2020.
The Commission has been engaging with the Macbeth Memorial Trust since October 2020, in relation to its overdue accounts.
Between October and December 2020, the trustees were given a number of deadlines to file the charity’s accounting information, none of which were met.
During this period, the Commission states trustees indicated that they wished to close the charity, but despite receiving guidance on how to do this, the Commission saw no evidence that any steps had been taken to wind the charity up.
On 31 May 2022, the charity was issued with an official warning because the charity’s accounting information remained overdue, and the Commission did not see any evidence that the trustees had complied with the requirements of the warning by the deadline.
In September 2022, the Commission was again informed by the trustees that they wanted to close the charity and they were provided with regulatory advice and guidance – the Commission did not see any evidence that this guidance was followed.
In the year end 31 December 2018, the charity’s income was £100,000. However, the inquiry found that the trustees had failed to prepare and provide the Commission with the necessary accounting information.
As the charity’s income fell below £10,000 in the year end 31 December 2019, 2020, and 2021, the trustees were not required to submit any accounts or annual returns with the Commission.
The inquiry found that the trustees failed to report the charity’s income and expenditure to the Commission, and also found that the trustee’s failed to prepare any accounts.
The Macbeth Memorial Trust had also been operating without the required number of trustees since March 2020, and the inquiry was not informed of any steps taken to increase the number of trustees from two to three.
The charity’s governing document states that the trustees must hold at least two ordinary meetings a year, but when asked to provide minutes of all trustee meetings, the trustees told the inquiry that formal meetings were “only held when required”.
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