The Charity Commission has opened an inquiry into a grantmaking body after it failed to take steps to close after telling the regulator it planned to do so.
A statutory inquiry into the Macbeth Memorial Trust has now been opened, given that the charity failed to comply with an official warning.
The inquiry, which opened on the 24 November 2022, will examine the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties, and a number of other areas.
Failure to submit accounts
The Commission first contacted the Macbeth Memorial Trust, which registered as a charity in 2016, in October 2020 after it failed to submit accounting information for financial years ending in 2018 and 2019.
Its data shows that the charity’s reporting is overdue by more than 1,167 days.
The regulator says it sent several reminders to trustees before a final reminder at the end of October 2020. It sent trustees a warning of further action in December 2021 after accounts continued to be overdue.
After this, the Commission issued an official warning in May 2022, but the charity continued in its failure to provide accounting information.
Records also show that since August 2020, the charity has been operating with just two trustees, breaching the charity’s governing document.
The regulator provided formal advice to the trustees on how to close their charity after they noted their intention to close.
However, the Commission has said it saw no evidence that any meaningful steps were taken to wind up the charity by the deadline given.
The Commission’s inquiry will also analyse the trustees’ plans for the charity’s future and its viability.
It will assess the extent to which any failings or weaknesses identified in the administration of the charity during the inquiry were a result of misconduct or mismanagement by the trustees.
Civil Society News has contacted the charity for comment.
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